Paranormal 2: The Apocalypse
by Liv-FanficLover
Summary: After 5 months, Leah Vaughn meets up with the Winchesters again, only to find that it has it's consequences. She also sees Castiel again, who hasn't shown his face to her since 5 months previously. If you're lost, check out my first story: Paranormal
1. Chapter 1

**Paranormal 2: The Apocalypse**

(Credit given to the makers of Supernatural— all character, excluding mine, are solely yours Mr. Kripke and I take no credit. Thanks for the inspiration! )

**Prologue:**

Her ears seemed to vibrate from the sound of what she just heard. This was impossible: her part should be over. Why was this happening? Why now? After everything that had transpired previously, wouldn't fate just give her a break? There was only one thing left to do; kill or be killed.

**Chapter 1: Far Away**

The young woman stared at the gold coin in her hand. It was a beautiful piece: highly coveted in fact.

"How much do you want for it?"

The woman looked up, her icy blue eyes blinking a couple times.

"Nothing…" she said softly. The man who questioned her from behind the counter blinked in surprise.

"Nothing?" he asked, "Are you sure you want nothing Miss—?"

"Leah. Leah Vaughn," the woman replied, "and no. I don't want anything for it." She quickly handed over the coin. Baffled, the man took it.

"It means nothing to me…" Leah said quietly, "please. Forget you even met me. Please." The man looked at her a moment, curiously. But before he could say anything else, Leah Vaughn was out of the door of the pawn shop, her long dark hair flowing behind her like a dark curtain.

Outside on her bike, Leah ducked her head slightly. The only reasons he gave the priceless coin away for nothing was because of where she got it. She could still see the face of the witch as she fell, dead, to the ground. Moments later and she would've killed Leah. The witch had forced this gold coin into Leah's palm, which would've killed her if she had kept it and the witch lived. _She deserves nothing better…_ Leah thought pitifully. She didn't want to prosper off of someone else's death. Shaking her head, Leah revved the engine to her motorcycle, gripping the handlebars tightly. Then she was off, speeding through the morning light.

Leah Vaughn wasn't joking or being stereotypical when she called her victim a witch. She was. A full-fledged, spell-casting witch. You see, Leah was a hunter. A hunter of evil. Of witched, vampire, werewolves, demons, and other creature you can't even imagine. It was her job. Her non-profit job. Well, maybe not _exactly_ non-profit. For the past twenty-four years of her life, Leah Vaughn felt pretty screwed. Her parents were hunters, and so they brought up Leah and her brother Peter into the family "tradition." One day when Leah was eight, her parents went out on a hunt. To make a long story short, they went to Phoenix, Arizona because of a band of demons, and after a few days their cousin Vanessa came and told Leah and Peter that their parents were killed in Phoenix. According to Vanessa, their parents had performed a certain type of illegal exorcism which killed them and hundreds of other people around— like an exorcizing shockwave that left nothing alive.

Leah lived her life with Peter who trained her up and got her to be a great hunter. For eight years they hunted together, But when Leah was sixteen, she decided to leave Peter and go off with Vanessa. Vanessa was killed four years later on one of their cases, and afterward Leah found Peter. Four years they hunted together again until one day when they were working on a case in Montana. Leah was contacted by a man— a demon. Leah cut him off, not knowing he was a demon with a bad attitude, and later that night something attacked Leah and her brother in their motel room. Peter, wounded, instructed Leah to leave and find a weapon hidden in the trunk of their Cadillac. When Leah left, she found the Cadillac on fire, and she grabbed the weapon in the car. Soon after the motel exploded, leaving Leah devastated.

Desperate for help, Leah runs into two men— brothers— who are hunters. After telling them her story, and the help she need, they decided to help her. The two men take her to another more experienced hunter who helps to try to figure out the case as well, and they soon conclude that the man who contacted Leah had to have been a demon of some sort.

When they leave to head out their journey, the two hunters introduce Leah to another friend of theirs—this time she's a demon. The demon gives Leah the name of the demon chasing her: Zepheron. Zepheron soon after contacted her and instructed Leah to go to Nebraska. The foursome head there, and soon Zepheron contacts Leah once more, now instructing her to go to Fort Robinson, where she must head to an abandoned shack alone. The brother's object, but Leah goes anyway. There she is given a strange amulet. They move on, Leah not mentioning the amulet, until Zepheron again contacts Leah. This time he reveals to her that he has her brother, who is still alive. When Leah receives this news, she breaks down. Soon though, Leah is introduced to yet another friend; an angel. The angel then helps them glue together some of the clues, but he also reveals to Leah that the Apocalypse may be at hand if the sixty-six seals are broken. Further on, Leah finally reveals to the hunters of who she really is, and eventually the angel finally reveals to Leah she just might be a part of the Apocalypse. Continuing on, Leah is contacted again my Zepheron who asks her to meet him alone in Knoxville, Tennessee at an abandoned apartment building. Leah leaves in the middle of the night unknown by the brothers, and in Knoxville Leah meets Zepheron who is actually possessing her brother's body. Somehow Zepheron causes a reaction to the amulet given to her by cutting Leah's hand, but before he could reveal his plans for her, the angel shows up and whisks Leah away. He was angry at her at first before he sees the amulet and he realizes that who Leah might be—the cursed human from a deal made between an angel and a demon, and she's possibly a seal that Zepheron must break.

Though it's difficult, Leah tries to accept this as destiny, and convinces the angel to allow her to try and kill Zepheron before he can kill her. SO they make a plan of action and carry it out. When they meet up, Leah and Zepheron battle, and eventually they stab each other simultaneously resulting in mortal wounds for the both of them. Leah does die— and Zepheron breaks the seal. But, the angle miraculously resurrects Leah.

Realizing that she broke a seal, and no she can finally lay her brother to rest, Leah bids her farewell to her hunter friends, knowing she has to move on.

So that's her life so far. Short and to the point. But not exactly a non-profit job; because Leah realized that through this, she earned something that she never had before: she gained friendship. And with the most unlikely sort.

That was five months ago.

Leah dropped her bag onto the motel bed, sighing. She looked around at the motel. Memories automatically started flowing through her brain as she noted the peculiar decorations. But suddenly Leah stopped. _No,_ she thought to herself, _not now._ To force her thoughts away from such memories, she grabbed some extra clothes and headed to the shower.

After her shower, Leah ran the towel over her long dark hair, drying it quickly. Her thoughts were successfully turned away from those painful memories, and to the case she had just finished that day. She frowned, thinking about it. It happened again. That weird… power that came from her. It was very peculiar. It had only happened a few times before, but recently it began to get more frequent. She could still remember the first time it happened: the memory came so vivid to her mind that she closed her eyes tightly to stop thinking about it. He orange light of the evening sun beating down on the lonely open field where Zepheron attacked her again, but this time he fell to the ground, just as surprised at Leah was because of what she did to him— with her mind.

Before Leah could think any more on this, the sudden ringing of her phone brought her out of the swarming memories and back into reality. Quickly, Leah dashed out of the bathroom, one single thought coursing through her brain: who is it? Trying not to raise her hopes, Leah reached her phone. She sighed when she saw the number— Jonathan. Hastily picking up her phone, Leah breathed a hoarse hello.

"Miss Vaughn?" an anxious voice spoke on the other end.

"Stop calling me Jonathan,: Leah said grumpily.  
"But Miss—

"Stop calling me Miss Vaughn, you make me sound old," Leah snapped, "and I'm not having dinner with you! How the heck did you get this number anyway?!"

"Oh Leah c'mon," Jonathan said.

"Stop. Calling. I saved your butt from a hungry batch of vampires and that's _it_. Now erase my number from your phone before I regret ever saving you," Leah threatened.

"Well, I wasn't thinking about dinner, but splendid idea," Jonathan retorted. Leah rolled her eyes, grinding her teeth.

"I actually called because someone told me they needed help. I thought you might be willing," Jonathan added.

"Help? I'm not a Ghostbuster. You don't just call when something supernatural comes your way," Leah grumbled.

"Well, I'm sorry if you're busy or something," Jonathan said quietly.

"No, I'm not busy, I just got settled into a motel after taking care of a real witch today, that's all,"  
Leah replied haughtily. It got quiet.

"Ok, just give me the info," she asked.

"South Carolina. A small town called Clover. My friend says he's dealing with some weird demonic thing. I really don't know a lot… All I know is that he was freaked pretty badly," Jonathan explained. Leah sighed.

"Alright… I guess it won't hurt," she mumbled.

"So you up for it?"

Leah looked down. _Demons…_

"Yeah. I'm up for it," she answered.

"Good, I'll let him know," Jonathan replied, a hint of relief in his voice.

"Okay. G'night Jonathan. And don't call me again," Leah said, slightly seriously.

"So what about that dinner—" Jonathan started.

"Good night!" Leah interrupted, shutting the phone in an instant. After a moment or two, she sighed again. _People are crazy,_ she thought bitterly. Stashing her phone in her back jean pocket, she looked at her watch. 11:45 p.m.

"Might as well get some rest," she said out loud to the silence. He quietly climbed into the motel room bed, fully clothed, shutting off the light so she didn't have to look at the room. She stared up at the black ceiling above her in silence. Slowly she began to drift into a restless, dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Missing You

Leah stared into the open flame. The body being consumed was covered with a white sheet, which was crackling and turning black as the flames licked up and down the body. The body of her brother. For a while since Leah left Peter, all she could think about was getting her brother back. It was what drove her to hunt down Zepheron and finally kill him. But now when she stood, staring at the lifeless body burning in front of her, she knew right from the moment that Zepheron came to their motel that one October night, Peter was already dead. As Leah stared into the face of the burning body, suddenly the eyes of her brother snapped open.

Leah moaned as she stepped into the diner. That dream still racked her brain harshly. She seemed to have that dream often, of her brother burning as he did when Leah gave him the proper burial of a hunter. But before the dream ended, Peter's eyes always opened and a look of horror crossed his burning face. It was the same scene every time

Leah forced these thought and imaged out of her mind as she sat down on the bar stool of the diner. It was 8:30 in the morning. She had been up since 7:00. But the combination of lack of sleep, early-morning hours, and the vivid images of the dream she had that night kept her from riding any longer.

"What can I get you?" the man behind the counter asked kindly.

"Just a biscuit and gravy. And coffee. Lots of coffee," Leah answered.

"Decaf or no?"

"Defiantly caffeine," Leah said dropping her head onto her arms which were folded on the counter. Patiently she waited, trying to clear her mind and get rid of her pounding headache. After she received her first cup of coffee and her biscuit with gravy, she looked around the diner casually. It wasn't very busy, so there weren't very many people. A couple of single people and one or two couple scattered around the diner. Leah turned back to her breakfast sighing. Her thought switched over to her newly assigned case in Clover, South Carolina. Right now, in Belmont, North Carolina, she was only a few hours away from Clover. Leah tried not to think about the fact that the case was actually over a demon… She honestly has not dealt with demons in a while. _Since…_ Leah frowned, not wanting to think about the five months previously when she dealt with Zepheron. Shaking her head, Leah dropped her gaze back down to her food. She picked at it a moment, still thinking about the case. _I shouldn't of accepted…_ Leah thought bitterly to herself. _You don't know what might happen to you... I mean, look at what happened with Zepheron?_ Leah shook her head again sharply, trying to shake away her own conflicting voices.

"Too much on your mind?"

The sudden voice startled Leah. Her head snapped to the right and she was looking at a young man. He was smiling at her gently.

"Uh… Yeah…" Leah finally replied. The young man chuckled.

"Yeah, biscuits and gravy can do that to a person," he joked. Leah smiled slightly. She glanced over him quickly without his notice. He had green-blue eyes with a hint of gray, and dark hair. And he was particularly handsome. Leah looked away in disinterest.

"I'm Matt," the guy said suddenly, sticking out a hand. Leah looked over at him again.

"L—" she started, but she stopped. Something told her not to say Leah.

"Claire," she finally said, using the first name that popped into her head— her FBI name. Matt smiled gently again.

"Nice to meet you Claire," he said. Leah nodded, turning back to her breakfast.

"So…" Matt began, "watcha doing in Belmont?" Leah shrugged indifferently.

"Ah… the mysterious type," Matt said, with a hint of admiration.

"No, just on a road trip," Leah replied reluctantly.

"So an adventurer too?" Matt added curiously. Leah shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Look," she stated delicately, "it's eight-thirty in the morning. I'm… I'm not sure if I'm up to this." Matt blinked a moment, and then a look of understanding crossed his face.

"Oh…" he said shortly, "Well, I'm sorry. I.. I didn't mean to bother you…"

"It's… okay. Maybe we'll meet up again some time?" Leah said half-heartedly. Matt lost his look of embarrassment.

"Sure," he said, "it was nice to meet you Miss Claire."

"You too," Leah replied, and then quickly she pulled out her phone to look distracted. It worked—pretty soon the young man was gone, as quickly as he came. As Leah went to put her phone away she accidently pushed a button. Her list of contacts came up, and as Leah was about to exit it, she stopped. Two names on the top of the contact list caught her attention. Her heart ripping in two, she read:

_Dean Winchester_

_Sam Winchester_

Leah put a shaky hand to her forehead, forcing her eyes to stay as dry as possibly. The only reason her heat was ripping and she was so close to tears was because these were the names of the two brothers that she made friends with five months ago. Who helped her find Zepheron. Who helped her accept the name Vaughn. The ones who she _left_. It brought back so many memories. Happy, but painful memories. And this time Leah didn't hold back. It all came rushing back to her in one big wave— meeting Dean and Sam; riding in their Impala; meeting Ruby, a helpful demon; finding Zepheron finally. Making two best friends. The sad part is, after Leah died and was resurrected, she left Dean and Sam. Her pitiful excuse was that she needed time. Time to think, time to heal. She promised she would stay in touch, and that they'd meet up again. She did stay in touch— for a while. For a couple of days after she left, she called them at least once every day. Or texted them. Pretty soon it was every other day that they talked. After a month it was once a week, then once every couple of weeks. The last time she called them, they were pretty devastated. Dean and Sam had separated. Sam had gone off with Ruby, and Dean was on his own. They were angry at each other. Then only a little while later Dean called Leah. Leah could still remember the feeling of utter despair and failure when Dean told Leah that the final seal had been broken. Lucifer was free, and the Apocalypse was at hand at last. Basically it was the end of the world, for real. Of course Dean assured her that it was going to be okay— they were going to stop it and everything would be okay. After that phone call, Leah went into a deep and severe stage of depression. She felt guilty— she was a seal, and if she had not died, she could've stopped the Apocalypse and none of this would have happened. Dean tried calling Leah again later, but Leah couldn't find the heart to answer him. After her depression, then she couldn't find the heart to call and apologize. So it's been months since they've spoken, and Leah couldn't feel any guiltier. And she had tried her hardest to hold all this in.

At last Leah brought herself out of her painful thinking. It had been a while since she thought about all this. She looked back down at her food, and began to feel sickened by it. Quickly she paid for it, and then got up to leave. Her musings seemed to do no good any more. She felt worse now than she had in five months. Swiftly she left the diner, eager to jump on her bike and feel the wind on her face as she rode, dangerously, without her helmet, something she only did when she was emotionally hurt.

Outside, Leah climbed onto her bike. She was no longer drowsy from lack of sleep. Besides Dean and Sam Winchester being on her mind, she was now also thinking of that young man, Matt. He seemed odd— besides the fact that he randomly came up to her and stared a conversation as if they were old friend. Leah found herself sensing weird things; she decided to just consider it a part of her curse. But with this Matt, she got that weird feeling that something was different about this guy. The way he appeared, and disappeared for that matter, was disturbing. Frowning to herself again, Leah gripped the handlebars of her motorcycle, ready to start the engine. She did not want to think of whether or not the man she was conversing with was human. _But we've got to rule all possibilities…_ Leah thought. Then she revved the engine to her bike and took off, heading south toward Clover.

***


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Hit and Run

Arriving in Clover was quick. It was evening now, and the sun was setting over the horizon, which cast a deep, fiery orange glow over the streets. But for the evening, it was pretty busy. Cars were dashing up and down the streets, weaving in and out of each other like a sowing project. Leah rode slowly down the street, looking around cautiously. Things seemed normal. But then again, things always did seem normal, when in actuality things were devastating. Leah weaved her bike in and out of the traffic, still looking around. Then it hit her— she never asked Jonathan where exactly to go to find the demons. Pulling out her cell phone, still slowly riding, she reluctantly called Jonathan's number.

"Leah?" Jonathan asked when he answered.

"Yeah Jonathan," Leah said.

"What's up?" Jonathan asked, trying not to sound alarmed "is everything okay?"

"Yeah, except for the fact that I have no idea where to go," Leah replied. It was silent a moment.

"Well… how are things there?" Jonathan asked.

"Normal," Leah said, looking around again, "just a normal tiny town."

"I don't know exactly where you should go… when my friend called me, he sounded extremely anxious. So… I guess I can just give you his number and you can call him to find out," Jonathan explained.

"Okay, give it to me," Leah said.

"Okay; five-six-zero, two-seven-eight, eight-nine-zero-six," Jonathan read off.

"Mm hm…" Leah mumbled, trying to remember the numbers.

"Okay, I'll give him a call. Thanks Jon," she added. Jonathan laughed slightly.

"What?" Leah asked, frowning.

"Heh, you called me Jon…" he replied. Leah rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Good-bye Jonathan," she said roughly.

"'Kay," Jonathan said.

"Hey," Leah added quickly, "I thought I told you to delete this number off your phone?"

"Um," Jonathan started, "uh, good bye Leah, and good luck!" Before Leah could reply, Jonathan hung up.

"Men…" Leah mumbled. Quickly she dialed the other number: 560-278-8906.

Putting the phone back to her ear, Leah listened to the ringing of the phone. The traffic began to back up, so Leah pulled off to the side of the road, still listening to the ringing. It rang until the voicemail came up.

"Hello, you've reached William McKenley's phone. Sorry I couldn't take your call, but leave a message and I'll get back when I can. Thanks, bye."

Still frowning, Leah hopped off her bike. She realized that she was in front of a small diner. Felling slightly hungry, Leah walked toward the diner, calling the phone number again.

Leah stepped inside the diner. It was nice and cool inside. A few people were scattered around the diner, enjoying the last few hours of the day.

"Hello, you've reached William McKenley's phone, sor—" Leah snapped her phone shut when the voicemail came up again. Now getting annoyed, Leah dropped onto a barstool, sighing.

"What can I get you?" a voice asked. Leah looked up, into the young face of a smiling man.

"Just, um… pie," Leah said quickly.

"Cherry, apple, or blueberry?" the man asked.

"Apple," Leah replied, subconsciously. She realized then that was what Dean always got.

"'Kay, coming right up," the man said. Leah nodded, looking around. Things seemed so... _normal_. Disturbingly normal. People were chattering, laughing, as if nothing was wrong. As if nothing terrible, murderous, or anything was wrong. As if _the end of the world_ wasn't on there shoulders.

Only a moment later the waiter appeared again.

"Your apple pie ma'am," he said.

"Thanks," Leah said, reaching into her pocket to get some cash.

"Don't worry about it," the man said, "it's on the house." He flashed her a dazzling smile. An unusually dazzling smile.

"Um, thanks… again," Leah replied, smiling slightly back. AS the waiter turned, Leah caught a glimpse of his name tag. William M. That struck Leah as being odd. _Nah,_ she thought to herself, _it's just a coincidence._ She watched William serve another customer. When he came back, he smiled at her again. Leah smiled back, and then looked at her pie. It now seemed quite sickening. Something was not right…

William came back around again and Leah looked up.

"So… anything... strange been happening lately?" she asked casually, poking her apple pie with her fork. The waiter stopped, wiping his hands with a towel. He seemed to flitch at the question. Or it could've been Leah's imagination.

"No, things have been fine, as usual," William replied, turning back to her. Leah, still poking her pie, shrugged.

"So... No strange sightings? Or… funny electrical storms?" she asked. William walked toward Leah, putting the towel on the counter-top.

"You're a very curious person," he replied with a small chuckle. Leah faked a sweet smile. Then she looked up at him. Dropping her fork on her plate, she leaned foreword onto the countertop, resting her chin on her palm.

"So nothing at all?" she asked slowly, tilting her head just right so that she was looking at him through her eyelashes. William leaned foreword too, staring intently at her.

"Nope, things have been tip-top, gorgeous, and perfect here," he finally said. Leah looked at him a moment, then out on another smile. She turned back to her pie silently.

"Okay…" she said, frustrated on the inside. Either a) Jonathan was lying, b) Jonathan gave her the wrong number to call and she just so happened to meet the William McKenley she called earlier, c) she got the wrong William and he honestly doesn't know anything is wrong, or d)… something was seriously wrong here.

"Well," William said, now wiping the counter, "I'd say you're a very peculiar person Miss Vaughn."

"Hm, thanks," Leah said sarcastically. Then it hit her— _hard_. He just called her Miss _Vaughn_. Before she could think, someone called out,

"Okay, well good night McKenley, see ya tomorrow!"

William waved, smiling at whoever said that. _Okay, _Leah thought, _it's safe to assume choice d._

"Well," Leah said, putting on a satisfied look and tone, her mind reeling into action, her inner alarms screaming hysterically at her to do something smart, "I guess I better get going. Thanks for the pie." She pushed the uneaten pie away and she turned to swiftly walk toward the exit. As she grabbed the handle of the door, she pulled. And it didn't budge.

"You're not going anywhere Leah."

Leah stopped. This was not cool. She turned on the spot. William stood there, an unreadable expression on his young face. He seemed as normal as he appeared only a few minutes ago. Except for his eyes. They were pure black, like coal resting behind his eyelids. He stared, unblinking at Leah. Leah glanced around quickly, half-way expecting the other people in the diner to start freaking out by now. But they were all staring at Leah too, their eyes as black as the midnight sky. Leah sighed, turning back to the demon possessing William McKenley.

"Are you _sure_ you wanna do this here?" Leah asked, mostly sarcastically. The demon smiled. This time it wasn't dazzling at all.

"The others are right," he said, "you sure are sweet. When you want to be." Leah ignored a fresh wave of nausea at that.

"We tried to find you," the demon continued, stepping over to the side to get out from behind the counter," but you're very hard to track. So we let you find us. It's so easy to manipulate you pitiful human beings." Leah shook her head, smiling and letting out a humorless laugh. Without the demon's notice, she slowly reached one hand behind her and into her jacket.

"Told you I didn't want to do it here…" she mumbled. The demon shook his head.

"You humans will never win," he said.

"Did you forget who I am?" Leah asked coolly, and then she pulled out a small, sharp object. A sword.

"I'm Leah Marie Vaughn," she finished. The demon's smile vanished.

"I'm going to kill you Vaughn," he said harshly.

"Not before I kill you first," Leah retorted sharply. The demon scowled, and Leah gripped her sword tighter.

"Fine. Let's have it your way, shall we?" the demon said. A smile pulled at one corner of his mouth, and without warning the lights went out with a crashing sound as if they were all smashed at once. But Leah didn't panic. When she heard the rustling of feet, she just started swinging.

Time after time Leah saw the yellow glow from the person's mouth and eyes as the sword struck them, killing not only the demon possessing them, but the innocent human as well. It was going smooth, until someone wheeled her around, knocking the sword out of her grip. Leah suddenly felt a vice-grip on her windpipe, and her breaths were cut short. In the dimness of the diner, Leah could see William McKenley's face twisted into an evil grimace.

"I told you that you would never win," he said through his teeth. Leah gripped at the demon's hands closing around her windpipe.

"Too bad I can't kill you now though," the demon said surprisingly, "I would really love to." Leah's eyes widened. Suddenly the demon's snapped back as if on hinges, and a mighty out-pouring of black smoke came billowing out of his throat, circling the air. In the next moment, it was gone. William's hands loosened on her throat and Leah pulled away. She grabbed him as his limp body fell to the floor, hard. Gasping for breath, Leah reached down and felt his neck for a pulse. He was still alive. Sighing and breathing deeply, Leah dropped to the floor. She closed her eyes peacefully. _What a day._


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: At Long Last

"Yeah… thanks again Jonathan," Leah said quietly.

"So… I guess I'll call you when he— if he— wakes up," Jonathan replied over the phone.

"Okay…" Leah said.

"Thanks again, Leah, for everything," Jonathan said honestly.

"No problem. Just…doing my job. Bye," Leah said.

"Bye."

Leah sighed, putting her phone away. She rubbed her eyes irritably, yawning. She barely got any sleep. The images of the previous night would not leave her mind. And that demon… how it just left. Leah shook her head solemnly and walked over to her bag. She pulled out a short-sleeved, black button-down shirt. She stripped off her blood-stained black t-shirt, threw on the button-down, and then threw on her black leather jacket. A sudden annoyance struck her when she realized she was searing all black. Again. She grabbed her bag again, shuffling through her clothes. Then she pulled out another shirt. This was a white, short-sleeved button-down shirt. Leah bit her lip in uncertainty, debating with herself.

"What the hell," she said, and then she took off her black leather jacket.

Trudging outside, Leah dropped down onto her bike. It was quite early in the morning, so the bright yellow sun cast a particularly beautiful glow over the street, so unlike the previous night. Leah sighed, revving her motorcycle's engine. But she longed to get out of the town. Jonathan told her that the demons were gone, but Leah still didn't want to be here. She felt extraordinarily guilty— the police, receiving an anonymous phone call, from her, went out to the diner to find the place massacred, except for William McKenley. Jonathan said when he got there, William was still unconscious, and the police and hospital concluded that he was in a coma, probably from trauma (also eliminating the fact that he could be the suspect). Leah knew it wasn't her fault, but she couldn't face Jonathan if something was really wrong. Leah sighed once more, looking up at the heavens. Then she sped off suddenly, her black leather jacket flying with the wind, her bright white shirt shining in the sunlight.

As Leah sped through the morning hours and into the noon hours, trying to keep her mind blank. She was exhausted. Not just physically, but emotionally and especially mentally. _I mean really, _Leah argued with herself, _if everyone on the Earth went through exactly what I've been through, then everyone would've probably jumped off a cliff by now._ Leah stopped, thinking. Oddly enough, she never had suicide thoughts. But thinking about it now, she wondered why not. Her life was pretty much screwed as it was, as she thought previously. Except for Dean and Sam. But she wasn't even in contact with them anymore…

"Don't be stupid," Leah said out loud to herself. _Ridiculous, _Leah continued on, ignoring most traffic. She as way out of Clover by now, heading west. She didn't even know where she was going. Looking around, she sighed in irritation when she saw a stop light up ahead. As she was pulling up to the light, right behind a car, she stopped dead in her tracks. Good thing it was a stoplight. Sitting right there, in the second lane on the left, sat a shiny black car. A gorgeous, sleek, well kept, shiny black car… A 1967 Chevy Impala. Leah gripped the handlebars to her motorcycle tightly. For a while after she left Dean and Sam, she thought she saw their car everywhere. _It's probably just another car, just a normal black, '67 Chevy Impala,_ Leah thought. The Impala was sitting up at the front of the stop light, and Leah was on the right of it, right behind another car, in such a way that Leah could see the Impala, but now whoever was inside. Leah sat there, starting to get impatient. She could hear the soft purring of the Impala. It was soft…and relaxing. Just like Dean's Impala. Leah felt frustration suddenly. This was getting ridiculous. And the stop light seemed to be getting longer and longer. Leah gripped the handlebars tighter. She stared at the red light which was unchanging. Then abruptly, something snapped inside Leah— without even thinking, she hit the accelerator to her motorcycle, quickly weaving around the car in front of her. The traffic was pretty much clear, except for a large semi coming from the right side. Leah didn't have a death-wish, or a thought of suicide. She just needed to get away from the purring Impala. But she didn't even see the semi. And she pulled out into the intersection; people on all sides began screaming and honking at her. Leah looked up and saw the semi, her eyes widening. Then suddenly, through the midst of the honking and screaming, Leah heard a voice. A very familiar voice.

"Hey!!"

Then she heard the screeching tires of a car behind her. Leah tried to turn to see who yelled out after her, but suddenly things seemed to go into fast-motion: the semi truck slammed on its breaks, the car behind Leah swerved in front of the semi, and Leah slammed on the motorcycle breaks which caused her bike to skid off to the side, making her fall off. The semi truck swerved to avoid Leah, and Leah lifted her head to see the shiny black Impala screeching to a stop on her left, blocking the semi. Leah wrenched off her helmet, gasping for breath. And then the two men in the Impala jumped out of the car. Leah, half-way sprawled out on the ground, her legs tangled underneath her motorcycle and her torso being supported by her arms, gasped when she saw the two men.

"D-dean?" Leah whispered her eyes wide, "S-sam?"

The two men's bright green eyes widened.

"Leah…" the older-looking one said softly I disbelief. But before they could say anything else, or even make a move toward Leah, a crowd of people began filling the space like a flood.

"Oh, my God!"

"Are you okay?!"

"What were you thinking?!"

"Call an ambulance!"

"Oh, my gosh!"

People were yelling on all sides of Leah. A couple of strong-looking men pulled Leah's heavy bike off of her and someone pulled her up off the cold hard concrete.

People were still bombarding Leah with questions. Leah struggled to turn away, feeling very dizzy and disoriented. She tried to look for Dean and Sam, but the crowd was overwhelming.

"Dean?!" Leah cried hoarsely, still dazed, "Sam?!" But the crowd was too thick. In the distance she could hear an ambulance or a fire truck.

"I-I'm fine," Leah protested, but no one seemed to listen. By now the semi truck driver was climbing out of his truck. His nose was bloody, obviously from smashing into the steering wheel. He was also clutching a limp arm. Automatically people began crowding him too— he must have been a local. Look looked at herself; all she had was a large scrape on her right arm and a small cut on her face, not including bruises galore. But she was okay with that, since people were now dashing over to the injured truck driver. Leah looked around again, for a sign of dark shaggy hair, or copped brown-blonde hair. Or even the shiny Impala. But she couldn't see anything. Looking around, Leah noticed a diner off the side of the road. Quickly, without the notice of the concerned crowd, Leah made her way over to the diner after grabbing her motorcycle.

Leah walked into the diner, trying not to limp from the pain in her legs.

"Water…" she asked before the bartender could ask her.

"Are you okay…?" the man asked tenderly.

"Yeah…" Leah said, trying to muster up a smile. She thanked him as he handed her a glass of water, and then she turning to glance outside. The ambulance had arrived finally, and they were escorting the bloody truck driver over to the vehicle. Leah sighed, turning away from the scene. She didn't mean to cause such a commotion out there. Not like that… And Dean and Sam. Were they really there…? It was quiet a moment as Leah held her cup of water. The waiter was watching Leah cautiously.

"Leah?" someone spoke.

"Leah turned on the spot. Two young men stood there, almost as disbelieving as Leah. It was them. Dean and Sam Winchester. Without a word, Leah put her cup of water on the counter. Then she crossed the diner over to them, ad wordlessly embraced Dean, and then Sam. Her mind was totally blank. Nothing. Just that moment, their reunion. It was silent as they stood there, Dean and Leah embracing each other. Then Sam and Leah. When at they let go, numbed by the moment, Leah stood back, staring at the both of them.

"Long time no see," Dean said, breaking the silence. Sam smiled at Leah gently. And Leah couldn't help it— she grinned back, every last bit of joy overtaking her suddenly, as if all the joy she missed in the past five months was rushing back to her in this simple moment.

"So," Dean said, looking around. He glanced outside again, where the crowds were finally starting to disperse now that the action was over. He looked back at Leah.

"What does a guy have to do to get some food around here?


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Telling of Tales**

Leah happily placed a piece of pie in front of both Sam and Dean. Dean didn't hesitate to grab it and start eating. Leah sat down on the opposite side of the two brothers. They had a window seat in the diner so they could have a bit of privacy.

"So… it's really you guys…" Leah said after a time of silence, mainly to herself.

"Nah," Dean said, his mouth full of pie, "We're just figments of your imagination that just so happened to save you from a flying semi truck." Sam rolled his eyes at his brother's attempted humour.

"Very funny Dean," Leah replied, "still your old self I see." Dean grinned an unmistakable Dean-grin.

"So…" Sam said quietly, "what's been up for the past five months?" Leah sighed, leaning back into her seat.

"Let's see…" she said with a bit of sarcasm, "I got married, had a kid, got a job, got a house…hm… oh, I killed a few people on the way too." It got quiet.

"I think she got more sarcastic…" Sam whispered to Dean. Leah rolled her eyes.

"Nothing's really changed," she said quietly.

"Good," Dean said, taking another bite of pie.

"Got any boyfriends?" he added.

"Yeah, just like you to ask me something like that, Dean," Leah said darkly.

"What?" Dean said innocently.

"And no," Leah added, "I don't."

"Man, five months later and you _still _don't have a boyfriend?" Dean exclaimed.

"Dean, are we really going to discuss my love life after five months of not seeing each other?" Leah questioned. Before Dean could give a smart reply, Sam cut in.

"How have _you_ been, Leah," he asked gently. Leah looked at him a moment.

"How do you mean?" she asked, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

"Like, considering the fact that you died five months ago and was _resurrected_ by an angel," Sam answered, dropping his voice so that the other customers couldn't hear. Leah leaned forward into a normal position. She shrugged, fingering a salt shaker.

"Things have been okay… I guess. I mean, it's not all peaches and strawberries. Especially because of... Peter and everything," she explained. It was quiet again.

"Speaking of my resurrection…"Leah added, "how is _he_?" Dean shrugged.

"Here and there. He's defiantly not a stiff anymore since he dropped out and everything," he said. Leah frowned.

"Dropped out?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah, since he left the garrison because— wait, you mean you haven't seen him?" Sam said.

"No, not since…. Peter's cremation, no," Leah replied.

"God, I guess he still is a stiff," Dean said, sounding slightly frustrated.

"So what do you mean he left the garrison?" Leah asked, ignoring Dean's comment.

"I can't believe he never came and told you," Dean said angrily. "He told us that it was the angels' plan all along to start the Apocalypse, because they wanted world peace." Leah gaped.

"What?!" she exclaimed.

"He was in on it, until I convinced him to drop out. By the time we tried to stop the angels, Lucifer was free," Dean finished. Leah put a hand to her forehead.

"My God…this whole time… the angels?" Leah said.  
"I know right? Never would've guessed that," Dean replied. Leah looked up.

"So basically we can't even trust the fricken' angels anymore," she said.

"Basically," Sam responded.

"Guess that's why I haven't heard from anyone…" Leah added.

"Yeah… ever since I killed Lilith and broke the final seal… they've been staying low profile," Sam said quietly. It suddenly got very quiet. Dean was looking at Leah with a look of slight horror and Leah was staring at Sam.

"Wait… what?" she said softly. Sam looked over at Dean questioningly.

"You… never told me…you broke the seal?" Leah asked very quietly.

"Dean? You never told her?" Sam said. Dean gulped, looking between the two.

"Great, Dean, just great," Sam said, crossing his arms.

"Dean?" Why didn't you tell me?" Leah asked in shock.

"Um… I didn't think..." Dean stammered.

"So you mean… Sam… you broke… Sam… you set Lucifer free?" Leah asked slowly, looking up at Sam. Sam looked at her, deep regret in his eyes. Leah leaned back in her seat again.

"Wow…" was all she said. It got quiet again.

"Thanks Dean…" Sam muttered.

"What?" Dean hissed back, "it's not like I lied to her!"

"Hey _guys_," Leah butted in, "chill _out_. God, someone had to break the final seal, and little did we know that the seal was actually the one person you were trying to kill the whole time." Dean and Sam looked at Leah in momentary silence.

"You mean you're not _mad_…?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I started the _Apocalypse_, Leah," Sam said, "feel free to punch me a good one. Or Dean for not telling you."

"Hey—" Dean growled.

"_Hey,_" Leah said sternly, "I'm not punching anyone. No, I'm not exactly happy, but I'm defiantly not mad. I mean, if anything, you two are even." Both brothers looked at Leah curiously.

"Technically you started the breaking of the seals, Dean, as you've told me. So Sam finished it. And started the Apocalypse… But… the end of the world had to start sometime," Leah explained.

"Oh…" Dean said shortly. Suddenly Sam looked quite relieved.

"Well that's a relief…" he muttered.

"What? Knowing I'm not going to beat the crap out of you?" Leah said, grinning. Sam smiled back.

"So, besides, the Apocalypse," Leah added casually, "what else has changed?" Dean and Sam though to themselves a moment.

"Well… there's Bobby…" Sam said softly. Leah's grin faded.

"What wrong with Bobby?" she asked, serious.

"It's what I tried calling you about shortly after Lucifer was sprung out of Hell," Dean answered solemnly.

"He's paralyzed," Sam said. Leah looked at the both of them.

"What's that mean, paralyzed," she questioned, trying not to think the worst.

"He can't walk…" Sam said. Leah blinked, as if it clicked.

"What?" she said, dumbstruck, "_Bobby_?"

"A demon," dean explained, "it possessed him, but Bobby stabbed himself, and well, paralyzed himself…"

"Oh, my God…" Leah whispered. She stayed silent a moment, processing this.

"Besides that… nothing really has changed. Except now we're trying to kill the Devil," Sam said. Leah laughed bitterly, mechanically.

"Sounds funny when you say it that way. Sounds… insane," she said.

"Yeah…" Dean muttered.

"But what else can we do? We have to stop the Apocalypse somehow," Sam said. Leah quietly agreed. Again it was silent for a moment.

"So what happened to Ruby…?" Leah asked when it suddenly occurred to her that there was no mention of the demon.

"Killed her," Dean replied shortly.

"Really?" Leah said, slightly shocked.

"Yeah… turned out she was working for Lilith the whole time, right under our noses," Sam explained

"Phwew… I'm glad you killed her…" Leah said softly. Dean looked at her questioningly.

"I never liked her anyway," Leah said.

"Me neither," Dean agreed. Sam remained silent though.

"So… trying to kill the Devil…" Leah said, mainly to herself.

"So what about you?" Dean asked, pulling Sam's uneaten piece of pie over to himself. "Anything new over the past five months? Really?" Leah sighed inwardly.

"Well… when I left… I kind laid low for a while to give myself some time to heal... after that I started taking up jobs everywhere. Mainly… nothing interesting has happened. Except yesterday.

"Yesterday?" Sam asked curiously. Leah nodded.

"I was in Clover; a friend— well, more like a stalker. I save him from a coven of vampire not too long ago, and now he won't leave me alone. Well, he called me and said a friend in Clover was reporting some weird demonic stuff going on. When I got there, things seemed fine. Until I went into the diner.

"The waiter seemed nice and stuff… Unusually nice… and then I saw his name— William McKenley— the guy who reported the demonic activity. So I questioned him casually about the town's condition. He assured me everything was fine, but I knew something was wrong because he called me by my name. When I got up to leave, he wouldn't let me. He then revealed to me that he was a demon, as was everyone in the diner." Leah remained quiet a moment.

"I killed everyone in that diner… every last person. Except William. He got to me first. He seemed like he was going to kill me… Hell, he _wanted_ to kill me, he told me himself. But he said he couldn't. And then he left William's body.

"After that I just called nine-one-one to come to the scene… then I called William's friend, the one who told me to go to Clover. He came, said that William was in a coma. So… pretty much my fault anyway. Killing all those innocent people…"

"Yeah, innocent people who were possessed and trying to kill _you_," Dean replied in defense. Leah looked at him.

"I could've just... exorcised them or something. I could've helped William…" she said quietly.

"Him being in a coma was not your fault, Leah," Sam said gently. Leah looked away in silence, still thinking bitterly.

"I guess it's mainly the fact that I couldn't stop it," she added.

"Sometimes you can't fix and save everyone," Sam replied, "God knows we haven't."

"But… why did that demon leave? Why didn't he just kill me?" Leah asked in general, looking back at Sam and Dean. They remained quiet in their thoughts.

"I dunno Leah…" Sam replied truthfully.

"I wish I knew…" Leah said. "No, I wish I could find him and kill him."

"That's my Leah," Dean said with a grin. Leah looked at him and smiled weakly. Then suddenly she was reminded of something. Frowning, she looked away.

"There's one more thing…" she said. Dean and Sam waited expectantly.

"Lately I've noticed… I… this might sound weird… I've noticed that I… can do stuff," Leah said, pausing, "with… with my mind. Or something." Sam's curious expression dropped quickly. He exchanged an almost nervous glance with his brother, both their expressions unreadable by now.

"I mean… it's nothing fancy. Just… like killing the monsters with my mind or something. If that doesn't sound crazy," Leah added quickly.

"Uh, no, that doesn't sound weird…" Sam said, a slightly tone of attempted humour in his voice.

"C'mon, admit," Leah said, grinning, "you think I'm insane."

"Yeah, you're totally… insane," Dean agreed with a nervous laugh. Leah smiled only barely, looking down.

"Forget I said anything about it…" she mumbled. Sam and Dean sighed inwardly, the mood lightening slightly. Leah, however, wanted to continue on the topic, but something told her no. _Not yet…_ Leah looked out the window again, sighing to herself.

"We, we're heading west," Sam said after some time of more silence. "There's a town not very far that's dealing with some ghost problems from the look of it. You up for it?" Leah looked that the both of them.  
"You sayin' I'm back in?" she asked quietly.

"Only if you mean," Dean answered. Leah grinned.

"Hell yeah I'm in. Who could resist the Winchesters?" she said. Dean grinned back at her.

"I'm gonna have to drop my bike off somewhere though," Leah added as the threesome stood to leave.

"Why?" Sam questioned. Leah laughed.

"I'm not riding my motorcycle when you got the Impala!" she exclaimed, her grin widening brightly.

"Where will you put it?" Sam asked. Leah shrugged.

"Drop it off at Jonathan's or something," she said, and then she stopped at the Winchester's curious looks. "The guy who called me about William," she explained.

"Okay, let's hit it," Dean said, "We've got a lot to catch up on." Leah smiled. They walked out of the diner together, Leah feeling pretty elated. They were back. All three of them. Together.

***


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:The Happening**

The threesome, now consisting of Dean and Sam Winchester, and at last, Leah Vaughn, traveled that whole day, hardly stopping. Leah didn't mind at all; she missed the Impala dearly, and she would have loved to stay in it all day and night. She missed it so much in fact; that when they got in the Impala, Leah jumped into the backseat and grabbed the passenger's side seat of the front and gripped onto it as if hugging it. She would take deep, elaborate breaths, smiling with utter contentment. Dean and Sam stood there, shocked but laughing (at least Sam was), until Sam spoke up as gently as he could,

"Um, Leah, I'm gonna need you to let go of my seat now…" Leah did, still smiling happily and contentedly in her backseat. And she stayed content the whole time. Through the trip both Sam and Dean explained some of their many hunts, in exchange for Leah's stories as well. Though, Leah quietly thought that Dean and Sam's adventures were far more interesting than her own. And not once did either brother mention the time of silence between the two parties during the period of the past five months. But Leah was okay with that, since it pretty much meant to her that all was forgiven. At least it seemed so. But one thing that was mentioned was Leah's attire. It was during a particularly silent moment in the Impala. Dean sighed in what seemed to be boredom.

"So," he said, glancing at Leah in the back seat, "I see you're finally wearing something than pure black. " Leah smiled slightly, and then tried to put on a grimace.

"Yeah yeah, spur of the moment thing," she said, looking out the window. Dean smiled to himself, satisfied to see a bit of good change in Leah.

"So, will there be more spur of the moments?" Sam asked, grinning. Leah rolled her eyes, but smile anyway. She looked down at her white shirt, thinking about what they said. She sighed once more, looking back out the window.

The rest of the trip for the day consisted of more talking.

"You still got that sword?" Dean asked casually, referring to the sword Leah received from her brother before he died.

"Oh yeah," Leah replied, "Dean, it's an _angel_ sword." Dean shrugged nonchalantly. Leah thought about her sword, which she stashed in the back of the Impala along with all of their other supplies. The boys tried to insist that she not worry about her own weapons because they already had a pretty good supply, but Leah refused. She liked her own weapons too.

Finally at the end of their long day of traveling and reminiscing, the threesome stopped at a motel along the way. It was the usual, not-well-known kind of motel, the ones with the strange decorations all over the room. Sam had asked for a three-person room, and he was given the key to the room. Leah tried not to grumble too much, though she was sure that it would be a two-bed room as it always turned out to be for some reason. When Sam unlocked the door, Leah turned on the light, and let out a very long sigh. But it was a sigh of relief.

"There's actually three beds," she said quietly, her voice seeming to crack as if she had tears of joy.

"Looks like things are looking up already," Dean said with a grin. Leah smiled and threw her bag onto the nearest bed, then fell forward on it in a tired heap. She sighed into the blankets. Sam couldn't help but smile, and he shook his head, closing the door to their room. Leah rolled back over and sat up. She looked around the room. For the first time in a long time, she felt at home in a motel room because she was with the people she realized she missed the most— the Winchester brothers. Every time she walked into one of these peculiarly-decorated motel room, she automatically thought of Dean and Sam. It was one of those weird psychological association things. Leah sighed again, standing up and stretching.

"I'm hungry," she muttered, walking over to the fridge.

"You sound like Dean," Sam said, pulling off his shoes by his bed. Leah grinned, pulling open the fridge. Wine, beer, and cheese, yes cheese, was all that was in there. She tossed Dean and Sam a beer, then grabbed the block of cheese. She then walked back over to her bed, kicking off her boots. She sat on the edge, listening to Dean and Sam crack open their bottles. She turned to look at them.

"It's good to be back guys…" Leah said quietly.

"Aw, you're not gonna get all wishy-washy on us now are you?" Dean said, gulping down his beer. Leah stared at him in disbelief. He really knew how to ruin a moment. But, Leah did, at this moment, enjoy his "wonderful" sense of humour.

"Whatever Dean," she muttered, even though she was suppressing a smile. She looked down at her cheese, then frowned. It suddenly didn't seem appealing. She shrugged, got up, then tossed it back in the fridge. She yawned and stretched again.

"Well I'm probably gonna crash… Be right back," Leah said, nodding toward the bathroom, "I'm gonna brush my teeth." Dean and Sam nodded, Sam pulling out his laptop. Leah crossed the room, stepping into the small bathroom. She turned on the light, but left the door open. Brushing her teeth quickly, she turned on the water. As she stood there, she looked at the reflection in the mirror, the water running gently and soothingly. Leah stared into her own ice-blue eyes, which were tired, but brighter. It was at that moment that it happened. Something felt wrong. Leah gasped in shock as she felt a strong pain in her stomach, and she looked down, her legs suddenly feeling like jelly.

Out in the main room, Dean listened to the sound of the water in the bathroom. He looked over at Sam.  
"I can't believe Leah's back again…" Sam said when he caught his brother's gaze. Dean nodded.

"So… why… what do you think she was doing?" Dean asked indirectly, referring to the incident with the semi truck.

"She'll tell us in her own time," Sam replied. Dean frowned. He hated waiting for an answer. As he continued listening to the sound of the running water, he thought about Leah's motorcycle, and this Jonathan guy. When Leah dropped off her bike, Jonathan wasn't there, so Leah left a note for him. But Leah loved her bike to death, almost, if not more, than she loved Dean's Impala. So what made this Jonathan character so special that she would leave her _motorcycle_ with him?

"Hey Leah, I mean to ask you," Dean said, loudly so Leah could hear him from the bathroom, "so what's so special about this Jonathan guy anyway? I thought you said he was like your stalker or something?" It was silent while Sam rolled his eyes at his brother's directness.

"Aw, c'mon Leah," Dean laughed lightly. Still no reply. Not even the water stopped running. Dean frowned. He looked over at Sam, who shrugged.

"Leah?" Dean called out. Still nothing. Dean stood, putting down his bottle of beer.

"Hey Leah," he said, walking over to the bathroom. When he stepped into the threshold of the small bathroom, his eyes widened.

"Leah?!" he cried suddenly. Sam automatically jumped up, dashing over to his brother.

"Oh, my God," Sam said. "Leah?!" Dean was already on the floor where Leah was as Sam looked down in utter shock at the sight. Leah was on the cold hard tiled floor, eagle-sprawled. Her white shirt was blood-soaked, and her black leather jacket was lying next to her in the pool of blood surrounding Leah's limp body. Dean placed a hand to Leah's neck.

"She's unconscious," he concluded.

"What the hell happened to her…?"Sam gasped. Without answering, Dean reached down and ripped open Leah's shirt. A bloody gaping hole was visible in her stomach. Dean felt sickened at the bloody sight.

"We gotta get her out of here," Sam said. Dean quickly put an arm under the limp woman's back, then his other arm under her legs. He easily lifted her lifeless body off the floor, blood dripping down his shirt. But he didn't care. Dean rushed Leah outside, Sam following.

"Where're we going?" Sam asked.

"Hospital," Dean replied shortly. "Open the door— keep her back here with you."Sam wordlessly obeyed his brother. He climbed into the backseat, and Dean slid in Leah's bloody body in after him, not caring that his precious Impala was getting bloodied. Sam gripped onto Leah tightly. Dean quickly walked around the Impala, jumping into the driver's seat and firing up the engine.

Dean drove swiftly, and way over the speed limit, looking in the rearview mirror occasionally. Sam looked close to tears— Leah was still bleeding uncontrollably. Very carefully, Sam slid a hand up Leah's back. He could feel the bloody shirt and the gaping wound. Grimacing, Sam pulled his hand back. He then felt Leah's pulse again. After a moment or two, Sam stripped off his jacket, and he gently placed it over Leah's bleeding stomach, pressing hard to try and stop the flow of blood. Sam looked up at Dean.

"It's like she was stabbed…" Sam said quietly. Dean looked back in the mirror again. He looked wide-eyed and strange, as if dazed.

"Do you think…?" Sam started, not finishing his sentence.

"I don't know Sammy," Dean answered, "I don't know."

"She was not stabbed," a new voice suddenly spoke, "nor did she do this to herself." Dean and Sam looked up in shock at the familiar, rich monotone voice. There, in the front passenger seat of the Impala, was a man.

"Cas?!"Dean cried, "where have you _been?!_" The newcomer, Castiel, turned in his seat to gaze at the scene in the backseat. He ignored Dean's question for the time being.

"Cas, do something," Sam pleaded. The man looked at him unemotionally. Without a word he looked at the backseat where Leah laid, bloody and unconscious. And he miraculously disappeared. Only a second later he appeared again, this time in the back seat next to Sam. Castiel leaned over and examined Leah.

"She's alive, but barely," he concluded.

"Yeah we figured that much," Dean said, "can you do anything?"  
"I can attempt to cease the bleeding," Castiel replied. Sam removed his now blood-stained jacket from Leah's wounded stomach. Castiel placed a hand over her stomach. He was silent a moment.

"You must get her to the hospital immediately," he spoke, "I can only do so much." Dean didn't reply. He only pressed his foot harder on that gas pedal.

***


	7. Chapter 7

(Sorry it tooke me a while to get this one typed up! It's been a very crazy week. So forgive any mistakes that are most likely there (I typed it up very quickly), and enjoy! :)

**Chapter 7: Questions**

When Leah's consciousness finally came back to her, all she saw was blackness. Which actually scared her a moment— what happened? Was she blind? Then she realized that her eyes were closed. Tightly, in fact. She also felt a little bit of pain. _Which is good,_ she said to herself, _it means I'm alive._ Suddenly the memories of what happened came flooding back to her; she was in the motel with Dean and Sam, she was brushing her teeth; she felt a sudden, terrible pain, and then suddenly it was like her stomach… imploded. From the inside out. If that was possible.

Finally Leah slowly opened her pain-stricken eyes. Bright light streamed into her vision, causing even more pain. Automatically she closed her eyes again. _Where the crap am I?_ Leah thought. As she listened hard, she heard a steady beeping. Also something that sounded like dripping. There was also a collection of voices somewhere, people talking in low whispers. Then she heard she realized that she heard someone breathing near her.

"Hey," a voice said suddenly, "hey, I think she's awake!" There was the sound of footsteps against a tile floor. Then Leah couldn't handle it any longer. Slowly she opened her eyes again, flinching from the streaming bright light.

"Leah…?" a voice said very softly. It was familiar. Leah moaned and shook her head, trying to see. When her focus came to her, the first thing she saw was the anxious face of Sam Winchester. Only a little to the right of her vision, Leah could see a similarly anxious Dean.

"W-what… Where am I?" Leah asked, her voice shaking.

"You're in a hospital," Sam said quietly. Leah remembered the pain in the bathroom again, and the blood. She took a quick, natural glance of her surroundings. She was lying on a hospital bed, in a white room, surrounded by machines. She had an IV in her right arm and a couple of devices on her left arm for monitoring her body's statistics. The room she was in was a bright white, which reflected the early sunlight streaming in. It was remotely empty except for a chair in the corner and a painting on the wall. Leah looked down again. Abruptly she cried out angrily.  
"God, they _had_ to put me in a freaking hospital gown!"

She groaned in frustration. Dean laughed slightly.

"Just like Leah to complain about what she's wearing," he said. Leah looked over at him, and even through her frustration she couldn't help but smile at his wide, handsome grin. After moment, she realized that she felt something on her right hand. Her eyes flickered down swiftly, and what she saw surprised her. Dean's hand was gripping Leah's own hand tightly. She smiled again, seeing that Dean was unaware that she noticed.

Finally Leah pulled herself up into a sitting position in the hospital bed. She noticed a bit of pain in her stomach still. She frowned at that. But before she could say anything, she heard something and switched to attentive listening. She could hear a voice outside the hospital room. The voice sounded very familiar. Just as she was about to voice her questions, the voice outside stopped and suddenly someone entered the room. The man had dark hair, brightly blue eyes, and he was wearing a business suit with a long tan trench coat. And Leah recognized him right off. This was the angel that she had not seen in five months. The angel that helped her kill Zepheron. The angel who resurrected her.

"Castiel…?" Leah whispered. It felt like ages since they had seen each other. The angel looked at her, his face almost blank. The part that wasn't blank looked as though he could have broke out into a wide, beautiful smile of recognition. But the angel never did so. There was still a look of pure beauty and superiority about him. Quite suddenly Leah realized that the machines hooked up to her were going nuts, beeping like crazy. Castiel took notice of this and cocked his head to the side in confusion and curiosity.

"Shut that thing off, Dean," Leah mumbled. After the beeping machine was unplugged, Castiel's softened gaze flicked back to the Leah. They stared silently at each other for a long while; Dean and Sam were even quiet. Finally Leah broke the silence.

"Long time, no see, Cas," she said quietly. Castiel remained silent. Dean was looking back and forth between the angel and the human, unsure of what to say. After another long silence, Leah finally realized that Castiel really had no idea what to say to her. So she sighed, dropping her gaze.

"So first things first," she said, "What the crap happened?"

"We found you in the bathroom," Sam spoke up, looking cautiously at Dean.

"You were bleeding like crazy," Dean continued, "it was like you were stabbed or something. You were unconscious though… so we got you in the Impala and drove here." Leah looked at the both of them.

"So… what… happened?" Leah questioned further. Sam looked at Dean and Dean looked at Sam. They seemed lost for words.

"I believe it was your demon wound," Castiel suddenly spoke. Leah looked at him. His familiar, deep monotonous voice struck her sharply and she realized how much she really missed him. But she ignored this as best as she could.

"What do you mean, my demon wound?" she asked. Castiel looked down, and started pacing.

"The demon wound that Zepheron gave you when he killed you," he explained, not bothering to lower his voice. Leah looked at him uncertainly. Dean and Sam seemed to have already heard this.

"You mean… I still…?" Leah stammered.

"Yes, you still have a wound. More like a scar… it was impossible to, though I thought I did, heal it completely," Castiel answered. Leah blinked in surprise.

"But… why would it affect me _now?_ It's never bothered me before…" she said quietly. Castiel looked up at her.

"Dean and Sam told me of the incident with William McKenley. I believe that this demon may have had a connection with Zepheron. Which would have caused a sudden change to your body, seeing that the sword you were stabbed with was Zepheron's," Castiel explained. Leah was quiet as she thought about this.

"So… you're telling me… that meeting up with this demon caused my old wound to reanimate itself?" she said after some time.

"I believe so," Castiel replied.

"Great," Leah said. Castiel tilted his head again.

"So this can happen any time then?" Leah asked.

"Only if you come across any demons that have a connection with Zepheron—" Castiel started.

"Even better!" Leah cried, interrupting Castiel. She brought a hand up to her head, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Which is why we must practice extreme caution," Castiel continued delicately, fearing more angry outbursts.

"You seriously won't give up on the body guard thing," Leah said sharply. Before either of them could say anything else, Dean's phone suddenly began ringing. He grabbed his phone hastily while everyone turned their attention to him expectantly.

"Bobby," Dean started, and then he stood and walked over to the threshold of the hospital room. Leah felt her hand abruptly go numb at the absence of Dean's hand.

"Yeah…" Dean said quietly, "yeah, she's awake. Yeah… Cas just told her. No, she's not happy." He was quiet for a moment as Bobby said something on the other end. "Yeah, okay. See ya, Bobby."

Leah looked at him.

"Bobby has some info on this," Dean said. He looked at Leah.

"Says it might help. A lot," He added. Sam stood. Leah looked at all three men who were now standing and looking back and forth nervously, occasionally glancing at Leah as if silently communicating to each other about what they should do about her. Leah rolled her eyes heavily. She then ripped off the covers of the bed and hopped off of it.

"Wait— what're you doing?" Sam asked.

"I'm not staying here," Leah said stubbornly.

"But they said you should stay through the da—"

"I'm _not_ staying," Leah interrupted. She took notice of her bag sitting by the bed. She reached into it, grabbing her black jeans. Quite suddenly, in the presence of two men and an angel, Leah began to slip on her jeans. Castiel, Dean, and Sam whipped around in shock to give Leah some privacy. Any other time Leah would have screamed for them to get out, but right now that was the least of her worries. Dean cast a strange glance at Sam, and Castiel stood there, a slight look of panic crossing his face. Leah quickly slipped on a clean back shirt, and then swiftly she strode past the three men and out of the room. The other three followed, still numbed by what she just did and trying not to think about it. As they walked down the hall, Leah leading the pack, a couple of nurses and doctors were making their way hastily through the halls toward Leah's room. They seemed to recognize Dean, Sam, and Castiel, and as they passed they looked curiously at Leah. For a split second they stopped the three men.

"Our monitors are suggesting that Miss Vaughn's condition is—" one doctor started, but Leah, still walking away, interrupted him.

"Yeah, um, something's really wrong with her alright, I think you should take a look," she said. Dean gave the doctor a fleeting look, then he quickly dashed away to follow Leah, Castiel and Sam right behind him.

All four of them successfully left the hospital without being stopped. Tough Dean was now beginning to get furious.

"Leah, this is stupid— what if that freaky wound opens up again?!" he asked. Leah shook her head as she wrenched open the driver's door to the Impala.

"Dean, you should know by now that I am _not_ someone that will be detained," she said. Dean came up behind her, grabbed the door, and got really close to her.

"I'm gonna try—" he started. But Leah shoved past him. And with that she opened the back door and climbed in there instead. Dean rolled his eyes and got into the driver's seat. Sam got into the passenger's seat, and, surprisingly, Castiel climbed into the back seat next to Leah. He looked around quite unemotionally. Leah stared at him wordlessly. Slowly Castiel caught her gaze. He quickly looked away.

"I must keep a close eye on you," he said quietly.

"Real sweet Cas," Leah said sarcastically, "but I refuse to have a bodyguard, angel or not." Castiel remained silent, and he remained in his seat, which further aggravated Leah. She realized that he wasn't going to give in. Leah shook her head, resolving to deal with this issue in due time.

"Drive Dean," she said sourly, crossing her arms. The early morning glow of the sun stretched across the parking lot of the county hospital, though there was still mostly darkness across the sky. Dean cranked the engine. There was no way of swaying someone as stubborn as Leah Vaughn to stay at a hospital. Dean sighed as they pulled out of the parking lot. Leah stared outside in silence for a moment.

"I'm hungry…" she mumbled suddenly.

***


	8. Chapter 8

**(I'm sorry it took so long for me to get this chapter in. I hope you can forgive me! It's been a really rough past few weeks... but I'm trying to get as much done as possible. But enjoy anyway!!)**

**Chapter 8: Demons and Witches and Ghosts— Oh my!**

Leah moaned, gripping the front passenger's seat from behind very tightly. They had been traveling for hours— they were not very far from Bobby's place. They had stopped for lunch on the way, but Leah, who was sitting on the edge of her seat in the back of the Impala, was beginning to feel the consequences of eating too soon. She had her head resting against the seat in front of her, and she moaned again. Sam continued to cast glances at Dean, who was watching Leah like a hawk in the backseat. Castiel, who was still traveling in the Impala with them (surprisingly), was sitting silently next to Leah in the back. He would occasionally shoot glances at her as well. Abruptly Leah felt her stomach lurch violently again.

"Oh God," she moaned, "Dean pull over." Dean let out a frustrated sigh.

"C'mon Leah, we're almost there," he started.

"Unless you want me to ruin your Impala furthermore, I suggest you pull over _now_," Leah said firmly. So Dean pulled the Impala over, mumbling something under his breath. Leah caught a few words: "shouldn't have eaten," and "can't believe this," and "my Impala." Dean didn't even get the Impala in park and Leah was out of the vehicle, dashing over to the side of the country road. She doubled over, heaving. Before she knew it, Castiel was beside her. She didn't even hear the car door.

"Leah," he said unemotionally, "it is imperative that we move on as quickly as possible. It there anything I can do?" he asked. Leah put her hands on her thighs for support, and looked up at the angel. Leah almost spit out a smart reply of:

"Yeah, you could give me some fricken' space and stop trying to be my body guard!" But instead she just said sarcastically,

"Yeah, a Sprite would be nice…" Castiel gave her a small look of confusion.

"Forget it," Leah replied, standing up, "let's just go." Leah stumbled slightly from the dizziness that struck her, and Castiel noticed her pain-stricken expression and seemed to want to protest a moment, but he followed Leah back to the Impala anyway.

"Are you sure you're the ready to come back in?" Dean asked when Leah climbed into the Impala.

"Yeah yeah," she mumbled. Dean pulled the car out of park. He looked around, then grumbled,

"You shouldn't have ate…"

It wasn't long until they reached Bobby's place. The familiar landscape and setting same into Leah's vision— the old shells and skeletons of cars, engines, piles of tires, half-way built motorcycles, and unfinished models of vehicles. Leah remembered the first time they arrived here. Well, when _she_ arrived there anyway. Dean automatically assumed that Leah was disgusted by the place, when in actuality Leah loved it. It seemed like home. And five months later, it still struck those deep heart-strings inside of her as if she was back home. Leah sighed— it had been five months since she was there. Nothing much had changed, except things looked more accumulated than last time. And most things that looked to be projects of some sort were still unfinished. Soon Bobby's old house appeared, looking as it always did. Though small and run-down, Leah still loved it. Leah, Dean, and Sam climbed out of the Impala, Leah looking around in natural curiosity. Castiel was right behind them. Dean and Sam exchanged glances, then looked over at Leah. Sam stepped over to her.

"I… I know it's going to be your first time seeing Bobby and all in five months," he started. Leah looked at him expectantly.

"So… ignore any comments he might make about that," Sam added. "Oh, and you don't have to say anything about his—er— disability." Leah nodded in understanding.

"Oh you'll be fine," Dean chimed in, "just be yourself." Leah stared at him blankly.

"Yeahhh…" she said slowly, "c'mon." And so they walked into the house. It _still_ looked the same as Leah remembered.

"Hey Bobby?!" Dean yelled out. Leah felt like she was in a déja-vu moment. She glanced over at Castiel who was doing his routine inspection of the place, looking around at everything.

"There you guys are," a familiar voice called, and Leah looked ahead to see a man come in— in a wheelchair.

"Took you long enough to get here," the man added. He wore a dark ball cap and a tattered green vest. Suddenly he noticed Leah.

"Hey Bobby," Leah said, gripping her backpack tighter over her shoulder and smiling gently. Bobby Singer stared at Leah.

"Long time no see," he said coldly. Leah couldn't help but hear the slight resentment in his voice. Her smile faded slightly and the room got awfully tense.

"Well," Dean cut the silence abruptly, "sweet reunion. So what'd you have for us Bobby?" Bobby's hard gaze shifted over to Dean.

"In here," he said, nodding toward to room behind him.

When in that room, Bobby rolled over to a table where a large book was lying. He glance at it briefly, then 360'd around to face the four behind him.

"I wasn't expecting _her_ to be here," he said, nodding toward Leah. Leah shifted uncomfortably.

"She insisted," Sam muttered.

"So this aint gonna be easy to hear," Bobby continued.

"Castiel already told me about the demon wound," Leah said quietly.

"Yeah," Bobby said, not looking Leah in the eye, "but there's a lot more he _didn't _tell you." Leah gave him a look of confusion, and then glanced at Castiel. He was standing stick straight, casually looking around.

"What can possibly be more?" Leah asked. Bobby wheeled himself over to the table again to look at the book lying there. He sighed inwardly.

"The only reason a demon wound like that could get reanimated like that is if whoever caused the wound is around," he said, flipping a few pages nonchalantly.

"Yeah," Dean said.

"Well, Zepheron's dead," Bobby said sharply, "so the only thing that could possibly cause it is—"

"The sword that you were stabbed with," Castiel finished. Leah looked at him.

"I thought you got rid of it?" she questioned.

"Well obviously it was found again," Bobby snapped. Leah turned to him, trying not to show her shock at his irritation.

"Well that would explain why this happened to her…" Sam interjected thoughtfully.

"Yeah the sword was found," Bobby said.

"But that's not all," he added, "there's been a lot of demonic activity around," he glanced at Leah, "_a lot_. And not just demons. Congregations of witches and ghosts too."

"So what's that mean?" Dean asked.

"Well, whenever _she_ showed up again, they've been partying," Bobby said, nodding at Leah. Finally Leah couldn't take it any longer.

"God Bobby, _what_ is your _problem?_" she burst out angrily. Bobby looked over at her calmly while Dean and Sam looked at Leah in a bit of shock.

"Don't say 'nothing' either," Leah warned, "'cause ever since we got here you've been acting like you want to throw me back out!" It got quiet. Deafeningly quiet. Dean was looking at Leah, Sam was looking at Dean and Leah, Leah was looking at Bobby, and Castiel, well, Castiel was just staring around quiet unemotionally.

"You could've called," Bobby stated quiet plainly. Leah blinked.

"Called?" she repeated, breaking the continued silence.

"Cal— is that what this was about?" she added.

"Five months and you don't even bother to contact me. You could've been dead for all I knew. If it wasn't for Dean and Sam telling me you were all right, I would've though you were dead," Bobby exclaimed. Leah opened her mouth to say something, but it was only silence that came.

"A visit wouldn't have killed you either," he mumbled.

"I'm— Bobby, I'm sorry. It never occurred to me—" Leah stared. But Bobby waved a hand to stop her.

"It's done and over with," he said. Leah looked at him with pure repentance. For a few moments it was silent.

"Um, Bobby?" Dean said quietly. He motioned toward the book on the table.

"Oh…right," Bobby responded.

"So what—demons are coming out now that Leah's back in the game?" Sam asked.

"Seems so. It's like… something's coming. Something big," Bobby answered. Leah sighed, putting a hand to her head.

"But… who could possibly have the sword?" Sam questioned. Bobby shrugged.

"Someone close— a relative or something— of Zepheron," he replied. Suddenly Leah felt a sharp pain at that name. She moaned, doubling over slightly.

"Leah?!" Dean asked, making a move toward her in concern.

"God, it never hurt like that at his stupid name," Leah through her teeth, and standing. Castiel was not watching her closely, concerned as well. Bobby noticed this.

"So you're gonna be her body guard or something through this?" he asked. Castiel looked at him.

"That is my intention," he said. Bobby shook his head in amusement.

"Good luck," he said, "if you can keep up with her."

"Thanks Bobby…" Leah mumbled, letting Dean walk over and finish pulling her up.

"So what now?" she asked.

"I think you should check out the demonic activity and crap around here. They're wearing me out," Bobby said. Leah nodded.

"Sounds good to me," she said.

"Oh you're not going anywhere," Dean said abruptly.

"Excuse me?" Leah retorted, looking at him sharply.

"I'm not gonna risk you bleeding to death like that again," Dean explained.

"Are you concerned about my well-being, or your car's?" Leah replied snidely. Dean opened his mouth in a smart reply, but Sam cut in.

"He's got a point Leah," he said. Leah looked over at him.

"Hey, whose side are you on?" she asked.

"Dean is right, it is too dangerous for you to hunt demons in your condition," Castiel spoke up. Leah looked up at the three men and the angel in disbelief.

"This is ridiculous," she said quietly.

"I agree with Leah," Bobby said suddenly. Dean and Sam looked at him in shock.

"It _sucks_ to no be able to hunt because of a stupid disability. I won't see the same thing happen to her too," he explained.

"Thank you Bobby," Leah said honestly. With that she turned and stalked out of the room. The other four followed.

"Leah you are _not_ going," Dean said firmly.

"You seriously gonna stop me, Dean?" Leah said, exiting the house into bright streams of sunlight.

"I'll try," he retorted. Suddenly Leah stopped, wheeling around on the spot. Dean halted right behind her, Castiel, Sam, and Bobby right behind him.

"Unless you tie me down here with Bobby, and I'm damn sure he'll let me go, or one of you stay here and seriously detain me, you're not gonna stop me. I am _not _going to sit around with my thumbs up my ass while some demon parades around with the sword that killed me and can potentially kill me again," Leah said fiercely. Dean looked at her with an unreadable expression.

"Just like a Winchester," Bobby said with a grin. Leah turned away, but she smiled to herself at that comment.

"Thanks again Bobby," Leah said, opening the car door to the backseat of the Impala.

"You guys call if you need anything. I'll try and do more research," Bobby replied. Dean let out a frustrated sigh.

"Let's go Sammy," he muttered. Sam followed in suit as Dean opened the car door to get in the driver's seat. Castiel stood there looking at Bobby wordlessly.

"Like I said," Bobby responded, "she's a lot to handle." Castiel frowned to himself.

"Hey," Bobby added to the angel, "you take care of her." Castiel nodded in understanding, and then in the blink of an eye he was in the backseat of the Impala next to Leah. Bobby shook his head.

"Crazy kids," he muttered.

"Okay Dean. Drive. Or I will," Leah warned. Dean fired up the engine, huffing again in bitter frustration at Leah's stubborn attitude. She was just like a Winchester.

***


	9. Chapter 9

**(Again, I must apologize for how long it took me to get this one in. I'm currently balancing between three stories.... so it's alittle rough. Just bear with me!)**

**Chapter 9: She's got the Power**

"Okay… from what Bobby told me, a lot of the demon activity and everything is centered around, well, the center of the town…" Leah said to Dean and Sam as she poured over the road map for the fifteenth time.

"That really helps, Leah," Dean grumbled quietly. Leah rolled her eyes.

"They aren't gonna have a big neon sign that says 'demon activity here, all hunters welcome,'" she said smartly. Sam smirked to himself in the passengers' seat of the Impala. Leah sighed outwardly and began to fold up her map.

"What about your angel sense, Cas?" he asked roughly, Castiel, who had been sitting quietly, almost unnoticed, cocked his head very slightly.

"As far as I can tell, the demons' activities are…" he stopped, as if listening, and then cocked his head even farther before straightening again, "everywhere." Dean, frustrated by now, numbed something unintelligible under his breath. Leah was now smirking to herself as well.

"Look, why don't we just head into town, look around, kill off all demons we can find, and then continue out our plan," Sam suggested softly.

"What plan?" Dean replied, "We don't even _have_ a plan." It got very quiet in the Impala as they drove down the country road, heading closer into town.

"Okay, so we don't have a plan," Leah said quietly.

"You know what?" she added, "let's just kill the demons, _then_ think of a plan." Dean nodded in agreement.

"She's right… we could even try and get some info out of a few of them," Sam said.

"Okay," Leah said, leaning back in her seat and smiling pleasantly to herself, "well then that's out plan. Kill now, ask questions later. Sound good to me." Sam smiled to himself— leah was back.

"Reaching town is easy. Finding the damn demons is harder…" Dean mumbled to himself as he walked back to the Impala where Leah and Castiel were waiting. Castiel was looking around, wordlessly, looking as if he wanted to zap away on his own and try and help find the demons. But he knew his job was to protect Leah, even though she hated it. Leah, soured, was waiting impatiently with her arms crossed over her chest.

"These people know nothing," Dean growled when he reached earshot of Leah and the bored-looking angel. Leah sighed, reaching up and pinching the bridge of her nose again. The sun was turning a royal orange behind the large clouds— where does the time go?

"Hey," Sam's voice called out abruptly. The three of them turned to see Sam come jogging up.

"I talked to a few locals. They mentioned a family on Elm Street, something about them acting strange lately," Sam explained in a matter-of-fact tone.

"And?" Dean asked expectantly.

"Well, according to them, ever since the death of their little gild, they've all been acting pretty strange. One even claims that they saw the son, who had pitch black eyes," Sam continued, still with the same tone.

"Sounds like we found our family," Dean said, opening the trunk of the Impala. Leah followed him and grabbed a sawed-off shot gun and some rock salt rounds. Dean stopped, looking at her as if he wanted to say something in protest.

"Don't you dare, Dean," Leah warned, "you know as well as I do that Cas has to go with you, meaning he can't baby-sit, and also, you _need_ me."

"Psh," Dean said, "I've been hunting with Sam forever. We'll do fine without you."

"Leverage," Leah said simply, patting Dean on the shoulder affectionately, and with that she turned to walk off.

"Leverage…" Dean repeated, running it through his mind, "Wait! We're not using you as bait!"

"I said 'leverage,' not bait," Leah replied, and she turned on the spot.

"Besides," she added, "maybe they'll talk with me around. She grinned. Sam shook his head, following after Leah. Dean scowled, but he followed them as well. Castiel, still silent, followed behind them, taking the rear of the pack.

On the way, Dean tried to think of as many reasons as he could in which Leah should stay behind, but Leah ignored him in the matter. Sam seemed to be the only one who did not side with, nor oppose, Leah's rash reasons for staying with them. Though, Castiel said nothing either. He knew better than to try and sway a human, especially a _female_.

Finally, reaching the house, Leah reached for the door first.

"Ah," Dean said, stepping up, "no, I will." Leah looked at him. She frowned, and then reluctantly allowed Dean in front of her. He knocked, and then backed up. After a moment or two, the door opened with a creak. A middle-aged woman peeked out from behind the door. Slowly she opened it most of the way.

"Can I help you…?" she asked tersely, looking at all four of the strangers. Her eyes lingered strangely on Leah and Castiel.

"Yes, we're with the FBI, working with the county morgue. We're investigating the death of your daughter, so we need to ask you a few questions," Dean said professionally. Her eyes narrowed.

"And you need _four_ agents?" she asked, eyeing them suspiciously.

"He's a rookie," Dean nodded in Castiel's direction, who stood there, looking quite agent-like.

"I need some ID," the woman said. Simultaneously, Dean, Sam, and Leah whipped out their badges. Leah nudged Castiel rather hard, who in turn pulled out his own badge, which he kept on hand because Dean forced him to. The woman looked at all the badges, and then slowly allowed them in.

Al four of them looked around cautiously.

"I don't know what the FBI wants now," the woman said when they reached the living room which was only a few paces away, "they told me it was just food poisoning."

"Well, we now have reason to believe that it might have been something else," Dean said. The woman turned to them.

"Ma'am, have you noticed anything strange going on lately?" Sam asked gently, in a soft tone.

"Have there been any close friends, people you know, who have been acting strange lately? Odd behavior or anything?" Leah added. The woman looked at her.

"You guys aren't really here for an investigation on my daughter, are you?" she asked. Leah frowned, cocking her head just barely.

"Why would you ask that?" she questioned. Suddenly a young man entered the room before the woman could answer Leah's question.

"Mom?" the boy asked. The woman turned.

"It's the FBI Demitri," she said. The teenager looked at them.

"Ma'am, please, just answer the questions," Dean said. The woman sighed, and then turned back to the pretending FBI agents. Suddenly she smirked quite disturbingly.

"Stunning performance," she said, and then she blinked. When she opened her eyes, they glinted pure black. Leah involuntarily balled her fists and tensed up. Before they could say anything, the teenager stepped into the room. He too blinked, revealing his black demon eyes.

"Ah, that's better," Dean said, smirking now.

"How did we know that you'd be here?" the woman asked. Dean shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. He and Sam both reached into their jackets, pulling out their shot guns, and Sam brought out Ruby's knife as well. Leah brought out her own gun. The woman looked at Leah.

"Leah Vaughn," she said, cocking her head to the side, "wonderful to meet you." Leah scowled.

"I only _wish_ I could say the same," she replied smartly, coldness icing her voice sharply. The demon smiled another disturbing smile.

"We hear about your little run-in with some friends of mine back in Clover," the teenager spoke, his voice now gruff and guttural compared to the previous voice he was using.

"Yeah, I chatted with a few of them before slaughtering them all," Leah taunted. The demon's smile vanished, but he said nothing.

"Okay, cut the chit-chat," Dean said, frowning.

"We need to know the location of the sword of Zepheron," Castiel suddenly spoke, surprising Leah, Dean, and Sam, his superiority showing in his rich voice. The demons looked at him.

"God, you just _had_ to bring an angel," the woman demon said, dropping her nasty smirk, while the other demon suddenly hissed and snarled at Castiel.

"You dare speak his name, you sorry ba—" the demon started, but the other cut him off.

"Not now, Demitri," she said sharply. Castiel straightened further, glaring at the demons.

"You just made things more complicated," the woman muttered, glaring back at Castiel.

"Look," Leah said, "I would just _love_ to kill you all right now, but I can't. I need answers." Both demons shifted their hard gazes toward Leah.

"And what makes you think that we'll tell you anything?" the demon, Demitri, snarled.

"Well," Leah said, "if not, I'll just kill you like I killed all your little buddies back in Clover." With that, Leah put down her gun and pulled out her sword, stowed away in her jacket. Both demons stared at the sword in mild shock.

"You can't kill us, you'll kill the family," the woman said darkly. Leah shrugged.

"Yeah, a chance I'm willing to take," she answered, "but you can cooperate and I won't kill you. It's as simple as that."

"So start talkin'," Dean added in, pulling his gun up higher.

"Yeah? Well I'd rather die, even by an angel's sword," the woman started.

"Have it you way then…" Leah growled, and she raised her arms with the sword. But before she could strike, she felt a sudden pain I the back of her head— someone had hit her first. She fell forward, and as quick as lightening Dean and Sam whipped around to face the stealthy attacker. There was another man, his eyes glinting solid black, who had appeared suddenly. And thus started the fight. Dean and Sam started fighting back the new demons, and Leah jumped up, her sword in one hand, swinging wildly at the woman who was coming at her. Demitri dashed at Castiel, who gracefully dodged him. Sam and Dean already had their demon on the ground, Sam pulling out the knife and bringing it down. But the demon rolled out from under Dean's grip after snap-kicking upward, avoiding the bronze knife by inches. Leah fought off the female demon easily— that is, until she snap-kicked Leah hard in the back, sending the angel sword flying and Leah sprawling. The demon called Demitri was tougher than he looked. In a matter of minutes he had Castiel in a choke-hold, gripping the angel's windpipe tightly, a fierce and wild look on his young host's face. Leah, on her stomach, the demon woman coming up behind her, looked up. In a brief lapse of time she glanced over their predicament— they were losing. Dean and Sam were getting beat by the demon that attacked Leah first, Leah's demon already knocked her weaponless, and Castiel was struggling to claw off Demitri's or reach his face. It was in the moment that Leah realized what she needed to do. It was risky— it might not even work. But at that moment it was all she knew. In a split second, Leah rolled onto her back right as the female demon was coming on top of her. Leah raised her hand, and cried out. Abruptly, in the blink of an eye, there was a momentary lapse of silence, and then the demon was flying backward. Leah jumped up, swiveling. Again she raised her hand, and the male demon who was attacking the Winchester's looked up at an invisible wall of force collided against him, sending him flying against the wall. Leah then turned to Demitri, who let go of Castiel, looking shocked. His black eyes narrowed, and before Leah could raise her hand against him, the young man's head snapped back and billows of smoke poured out. But Leah couldn't get it— it was gone with a roar through the windows. The demon woman scrambled up, her face twisted in fury. But Leah was far too quick for her. Facing her, she raised her hand once more, and spat through gritted teeth a small Latin incantation. Both the demon woman and the man froze as if paralyzed, then a yellow light erupted through their mouth, eyes, ears, and nose as the demons were vanquished.

Leah stood there, a feeling of shock sweeping over her. Though there was slight triumph, she realized the presence of the two Winchesters and the angle. Leah turned to them slowly.

Dean and Sam got up. The both looked at Leah in shock, but their shock was quickly replaced by concern. Well, at least from Sam.

"Wow. Talk about nightmare on Elm Street," Dean said, looking around the wreckage that they had caused the house. Leah ignored him. She looked over at Castiel, who was still on the ground. His face was bloodied, and his hair disheveled. He propped himself up, and then slowly pulled himself up off the floor wordlessly. Finally he did stand, straightening his trench-coat. He looked at Leah, and to her surprise a look of curiosity crossed his face. Leah looked at Dean and Sam.

"That… that was the most I've ever done…" Leah whispered. Sam continued to watch her with deep concern.

***


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Revealed**

Leah sat in silence on Bobby Singer's couch, her arms crossed, not really looking at anyone. Dean and Sam were watching Leah— they had just told Bobby what happened. To Leah's surprise, Castiel never said a word. Bobby was frowning, obviously thinking about what Dean and Sam had just told him. Dean continued to throw glances over at Sam, trying to get his attention quietly.

"Well…" Bobby finally said, "I say good job, Leah." Leah looked up at him, unsure of what to think.

"Even though that was a good chance to find out where that sword is, you still killed them demons," Bobby added.

"Yeah, and saved our asses," Dean chimed in. Leah looked down. She felt like a school kid who saved another kid from getting beat up by beating up the bully himself. Yeah. Bad analogy.

"So. You got the power, huh?" Bobby asked Leah jokingly.

"I… I never thought my stupid curse could amount to this," Leah said very quietly, still looking at the floor. Dean cast a nervous glare over at Sam, who finally took notice. He gave Dean and sharp, unreadable look, then turned back to Leah. Leah finally looked up at them, pausing on Sam.

"Wait… you don't think… I'm not… like you… am I?" Leah said softly, uncertainty clouding her voice, "Or, how you were? With Azazel and demon blood inside you and everything?" Sam expression turned to pity.

"No, no Leah," he said gently, and he walked over to her, "no, you're not." Lean craned her neck to look up at him.

"Why would my curse take affect now? After all these years?" she asked. Finally Dean couldn't take it.

"Because it's not your curse," he said blankly. Bobby, Sam, Leah, and even Castiel turned to him. Leah looked shocked and confused, Bobby and Sam looked threatening, and Castiel, well, he was fairly unemotional except that an angry sort of frown crossed his face.

"Wha—what?" Leah asked. Dean crossed his arms, looking bitter.

"It's not your angel curse," he repeated. Leah laughed lightly.

"What do you mean it's not my curse?" she asked, looking at Dean, then at Sam. "What else could it be? I mean, it's the only thing!" She stopped a moment.

"Right?"

Finally Castiel spoke up. He glared at Dean, and then turned to Leah.  
"Dean is right. It is not your curse, though some of what you've experienced might possibly be caused from this," he said. Leah looked at Castiel in confusion.

"What the crap does that mean?" she asked, point-blank. Castiel looked at her, and a sense of unwillingness swept over him.

"It…" he started. He paused, thinking.

"It's my fault."

Dean, Sam, and Bobby were waiting patiently, while Leah stared at Castiel, not even sure what to think.

"It's your… fault?" she asked with uncertainty. Castiel straightened.

"Yes it is," he replied firmly.

"…Okay, I'm officially lost," Leah said after a moment of awkward silence. Castiel blinked.

"Tell her what you did Cas," Dean sneered.

"Five months ago," Castiel started, not wasting any time, "when you… died… I resurrected." Leah stared.

"And…?" she said.

"And… I was not able to resurrect you by my own power," Castiel said.

"So what… you're saying you couldn't?" Leah asked, beginning to feel confused.

"By my own power alone, I could not," Castiel continued.

"So how am I… alive?" Leah asked.

"When I resurrected you, I gave you a bit of myself; my own power."

It got deathly silent.

"…"

Leah couldn't even speak for some time.

"You…" Leah started up again finally, her voice straining, "you…gave me… some of your own… power?" It was finally beginning to dawn on her what the angel was saying.

"If I had not you would've died—"

"Cas, I was already dead," Leah interrupted calmly. She stopped a moment.

"What the hell— what were you _thinking?!_" Leah abruptly cried, standing up to face the angel. Castiel frowned to himself.

"I was thinking about—" he started. Leah shook her head, waving her hands around madly.

"_OhmyGod_ you gave me some of _yourself?!_ I'm— I'm like—" she stammered at the end of her anger-filled sentence.

"Half-angel," Dean pointed out for her.

"Not helping Dean," Leah snapped at him. Leah turned back to the angel.

"Cas— you just don't go around resurrecting dead people by giving up some of your own freaking power!" she cried shrilly.

"Tried to tell ya…" Bobby muttered. But Castiel ignored them and focused on the angry woman in front of him.

"You couldn't just— grab my soul like Dean's?" Leah said, referring to Dean trip to Hell.

"Seeing as you weren't in Hell—" Castiel began. Leah face-palmed herself, interrupting Castiel again. She was silent momentarily, Dean, Sam, and Bobby watching her cautiously.

"Why… why didn't you tell me?" Leah asked finally, trying to steady her voice.

"Because you weren't ready to know. Your powers were young— you would not have been able to control them," Castiel replied.

"So leaving me in the dark was _better?!"_ Leah cried out again.

"The less you knew, the less likely you would be able to find the power… But I was wrong in that," Castiel said quietly. Leah shook her head again, turning away from the angel.

"Five months. Five months of thinking I was a total, cursed, _freak_," Leah said sourly, "only to find out that I'm still cursed, but now I'm a fricken' half-angel half-human… _thing_…"

"It's not all that bad you know," Dean said quietly.

"Not all that—" Leah started in disbelief, "Dean— I just went from being a _human freak_ to a half-_mythical_ freak!"

"Well at least you're not running on demon blood…" Dean muttered.

"Shut-up Dean," Sam snapped suddenly, "you're not helping." Dean shot Sam a nasty look, but Leah ignored the both of them.

"This is so _unbelievable_," she mumbled. Suddenly she stopped.

"Wait— how long have you guys known?" she asked Dean suspiciously. Dean looked at her reluctantly.

"Well…" he said with a small nervous laugh, reaching up and rubbing his neck. Leah shot him a fierce glare.

"Since you left," Sam replied. Leah looked at Bobby, Sam, and Dean.

"You _all_ knew?" she asked. Her raised eyebrows dropped severely.

"You guys are unbelievable," she said. She then turned to Castiel.

"But _you _are the most unbelievable," she snapped harshly. Castiel frowned.

"You don't keep this kind of stuff away from people!" Leah said strongly. "When did you plan on telling me? If ever?"

"When Dean and Sam told me that you recently found out about you abilities—" Castiel started. Leah threw up her hands.

"God, so you've been having secret conversations back and forth too?! Nice!" she cried. Suddenly she scowled.

"That's it— she said, "I'm leaving or something."

"C'mon Leah!" Dean cried, and he reached out and grabbed her arm. Leah yanked her arm out of his grasp.

"Well obviously I'm not _trusted_ enough," she snapped, glaring at Dean, "and I wasn't good enough to be told of something as serious as this! Not to mention good enough to keep contact with until something _interesting_ like my almost _death_happens!" Her sharp unwavering gaze shot to Castiel in fury. He cocked his head ot the side in his own confusion.

"You believe that I didn't find you interesting enough to visit during these last five months?" he spoke softly.

"Well that's the general idea," Leah snapped, "and even if you _wanted_to have, you would have, Castiel! Or did not that click in you little, unemotional, angel brain?!" Castiel suddenly seemed to understand.

"Oh…" he said softly, getting quiet for a moment. Then he looked up at Leah, who was still staring at him in expectant anger.

"I didn't visit you because I wasn't able to find you," he finally said blankly, as if that was the most obvious answer in the world. Leah's anger started to fail, and her scowl dropped.

"What?" she asked, her fury replaced by confusion.

"Because of your power, you gained the subconscious ability to block yourself from the view of all angels," Castiel explained.

"But… how?" Leah questioned.

"That I do not know…" Castiel answered in a thoughtful voice, seeming puzzled a bit.

"Even now you are unknowingly blocking yourself from the view of angels," he added, "which is one reason why I must— stick around." He cast a side-ways glance at Dean who nodded in assurance at the angel's choice of words.

"Why?"

"Because I have manually place a brand on Dean and Sam to hind them from angels' views as well," Castiel replied.

"Wait…" Leah said, thinking deeply now, "if you cant' find Dean, Sam, or me, with your— angel sonar— then how did you find them when I was at the hospital?"

"Because of your state, your consciousness was gone, as well has your shield… it is obvious that it can be turned off somehow," Castiel explained. Leah, frowning, thought deeply about all this.

"Wow…" she said shortly after a moment. It was quiet as all four men let Leah think.

"So…" Leah whispered.

"I'm… half… angel…" she continued, mainly to herself.

"Technically no," Castiel chimed in, "you're simply—"

"Hey," Leah said, interrupting him once more, though not angrily, "let me bask in my glory, or whatever it is, alright?" Castiel fell silent.

"Well," Dean said, "now that you know, we gotta get moving." Leah's expression dropped and she turned to him.

"Yeah Dean, after I _just_ found out that I have angel powers, let's go kick the crap out of some demons," she said smartly.

"Hey, it's good practice," Dean said with a grin. Leah rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of practice," Leah said, turning back to Castiel, "so are you gonna be my mentor or something?" Castiel frowned to himself.

"I never thought about it that way… but I suppose if you think it's wise," he replied. "But I agree with Dean. We should try and find more demons to interrogate."

"Fine," Leah muttered, "let's get moving then." She looked at Bobby. He nodded toward the door.

"Go on," he said resentfully, "get outta here."

***


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Bonding and a Devil's Trap

Leah frowned, still thinking about everything that was said between her, the Winchesters, Bobby, and Castiel. It had not really dawned on Leah what Castiel basically revealed to her— that when he resurrected her he gave her some of his own angel abilities. Yeah, Leah acknowledged that she had some sort of freaky power thing going on. She had known for quite some time. But to find out that she had _angel_ powers… that was just _weird_. Leah shook herself out of her musings, glancing outside. Another morning was dawning on the horizon, casting an eerie orangish-yellow glow on the Impala streaking across the roads. When they set off from Bobby's it was already dark out, so they traveled into town. They did stop at a diner to eat, and then they rested a little while in the Impala. But they were soon off ("I can't sleep," Dean had mumbled, cranking up the engine). And of course Castiel stuck around. Amazingly, Leah didn't really mind as bad anymore. She now knew his real reasons of why he needed to stay— he couldn't use Leah as a beacon or whatever to get to Dean and Sam easily. Also, he needed to keep a close eye on Leah incase she, well, had another bloody accident. And on top of that, Leah wanted him around for pointers on her new-found powers. If she could ever use them again. For her, she realized, they seemed to come and go. Though she had somewhat of control over them, it seemed unlikely that they would "obey" her. Which wouldn't be cool in bad situations. And finally, the Winchesters and Leah could really use an angel to help interrogate a few demons on the whereabouts of Zepheron's sword.

Leah looked back over at Dean, who was still driving. Leah was in the front passenger's seat, while Sam sat in the back. Sam was fast asleep, and Castiel was staring blankly outside. Dean noticed Leah watching him, and he glanced at her slightly.

"You not gonna rest?" he asked quietly.

"Nah," Leah replied, looking back outside, "I don't need any really." Dean shrugged nonchalantly. It was silent again. Suddenly Leah felt quite strange. Though Castiel was there, Leah realized that she and Dean never really were ever alone before. Not really anyway. They never really just talked. But, oddly enough, Leah had no idea what to say. There were so many things on her mind, but nothing could casually come out in a sensible conversation with one of her best friends. When Leah looked at Dean again, he seemed cool, calm and collected, as if the awkward silence was perfectly fine. But little did Leah know that Dean seemed to be having a similar difficultly with thinking of something to say. Leah sighed inwardly, thinking again. Quite abruptly she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. Dean glanced at Leah, watching her pull out her phone, a look of curiosity mixed with confusion and even a bit of fear crossing her face. When she read the caller ID, her expression dropped into a look of dry annoyance.

"Who is it?" Dean asked curiously. Leah rolled her eyes heavily.

"Jonathan," she muttered. She lingered over the phone, which was vibrating madly in her hand. Dean scowled, then said,

"Here, lemme see."

Leah looked over at him. Before she could ask why as she slowly stretched out her hand, Dean snatched the phone, flipping it open.

"Hello?" he answered gruffly. Leah watched Dean, beginning to fear the worst. She just handed her phone over to _Dean Winchester_.

"Um, hello?" Leah heard Jonathan reply uneasily on the other end of the line.

"Is… is this Leah Vaughn's phone?" Jonathan added.

"Yeah," Dean replied shortly.

"Is Leah around?"

Dean looked over at Leah.

"Yeah she's around."

"Can… can I speak to her?" Jonathan asked.

"No," Dean answered. Leah shot Dean a sharp look.

"May I ask why?" Jonathan asked quite uneasy. He was always so polite when he was uneasy.

"Because we're a little busy with somethin' over here, that's why," Dean replied smartly. Leah face-palmed herself in the forehead. She would not get out of that one easy.

"You're b-busy?" Jonathan asked in surprise.

"Yeah, so I suggest you don't call at times like this," Dean said, "I really don't want to deal with it."

"Dean," Leah hissed. But abruptly Dean shut the phone.

"What?" he asked innocently. Leah snatched her phone back.

"Thanks Dean, real smart," she said roughly.

"What was I supposed to say?" Dean asked, focusing on driving again.

"We're _busy? Busy?!_" Leah said through her teeth.

"Well it worked didn't it?" Dean replied, "Besides— it's pretty much the truth…" Leah rolled her eyes, turning away.

"We're _busy_…" she mumbled in frustration. It got silent once more.

"So what'd you see in this guy anyway?" Dean asked after some time.

"What'd I _see_ in him?" Leah asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Well," Dean started, shrugging, "c'mon, you got each other's numbers; you get annoyed when he calls…?" Leah starred at Dean.

"He practically _stalks_ me," she said, frustration building up inside her.

"You left your _bike_ at his house," Dean pointed out.

"Only because I trust him" Leah said. Dean didn't say anything.

"Look," Leah, her tone serious, "I saved him from a batch of vampires. The only reason I gave him my number was because he was freaked out and one vampire escaped." Dean's gaze shifted slightly.

"Besides, when have you been so worried about the guys in my life?" Leah added, half-serious that time. Dean shifted uncomfortably.

"No reason," Dean said coolly. Leah didn't catch the hint of uneasiness in his voice. She shook her head, looking back outside. It got silent, and Leah thought over their conversation. Suddenly something struck her realization.

"Oh crap," she muttered, frustrated again.

"What?" Dean asked, looking over at Leah again.

"I forgot…" Leah said quietly, "Jonathan said he would call if William McKenley woke up… or… something changed." Dean ignored a pang of guilt.

"Well call him back," he said. Leah shook her head.

"No… it can't be about William. He would've tried calling again, or at least insisting. Or he would've left a message…" Leah explained. Dean moved his eyes away from the road again to look at Leah.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Leah nodded.

"Yeah, besides… he's one of those people… he's just weird. He won't answer… unless it's really important. I'm sure it's nothing. He'll call back if it's about William," Leah said. Once again it got quiet, Dean still casting glances at Leah occasionally.

"When they passes a road sign, Leah quietly pulled out a road map. Dean bit his lip in uncertainty. He was debating on whether or not to apologize. But Leah spoke up again before Dean could make a decision.

"The next town is up ahead about four miles," she said, skimming voer the man. Dean took a glance at the map in Leah's hands.

"How many demons did Bobby say there were?" he asked.

"At least three…" Leah replied, frowning. Dean sighed outwardly. Leah looked over at him curiously.

"What?" she asked. Dean met her gaze. He shrugged.

"I dunno… it's just… we're dealing with a lot of demons lately. It's kinda—"

"Boring?" Leah finished. Dean reluctantly nodded. Leah was quiet a moment, staring back outside again. Dean watched her. He liked it when she stared blankly outside like that.

"Yeah I know…" she said softly.

"I mean," Dean continued, "I miss the old stuff. Riding around and just saving random people." Leah nodded in agreement.

"So what did you do these whole last five months?" Dean questioned. Leah looked over at him again.

"You mean jobs?" she asked. Dean nodded.

"Mainly odd jobs… I avoided demons as much as I could, but that got impossible after a while. But for a while I stayed low…" Leah explained. Once more it got quit.

"So…" Leah spoke up. "Killing the devil, huh? Bug job." Dean scowled.

"Yeah," he mumbled. He thought a moment.

"I suppose Sam told you?" he asked.

"About you being Michael's vessel?" Leah said.

"Big mouth," Dean muttered.

"Dean, you wouldn't really keep that from me," Leah said, with a light laugh, "besides— it can't be _that_ bad, knowing you're an archangel's chosen _vessel_." Dean grumbled something unintelligible. Leah rolled her eyes, looking out the windows again.

"At least you're not being tagged by an angel," Dean added sourly. Leah raised her eyebrows, looking at Dean. He caught her gaze.

"Okay, you got a point about Castiel," he said.

"I am… tagging Leah?" Castiel suddenly spoke from the backseat.

"Arg," Dean swore in frustration, "I forgot you were back there….we'll never get any peace…" Castiel looked at Dean, then at Leah. Leah shook her head. Then she noticed the road signs.

"Dean, it's the next right," Leah said, nodding at the sign. Dean complied in silent annoyance.

"Wake Sam up," was all he said before he fell into silence once more.

"I sense a strong amount of demon activity not too far from here…" Castiel spoke softly. Leah nodded, looking in the direction that Castiel indicated..

"Hey," Sam said, jogging up suddenly— he had been out asking around again, "bingo." Dean, Castiel, and Leah looked at Sam expectantly.

"There's a house on Bendon Street. A couple lives there. Say's that they've been acting odd lately. I think we should check it out," Sam explained.

"Okay," Leah said. She glanced at Castiel.

"You think this is it?" she asked. Castiel nodded wordlessly. Leah walked to the back of the Impala, opened the trunk, pulled out a few items, and then closed it.

"Okay," she said, "let's rock and roll."

"No, I got it this time, Dean," Leah said, side-stepping him to get to the front door. Dean rolled his eyes looking around suspiciously. Leah reached up and knocked. But as her fist made contact with the door, it creaked open.

"Okay, not a good sign," Leah whispered. Slowly she pushed open the door, peering inside the darkened premises.

"Hello? Mr. and Mrs. Wellston? It's the FBI," Sam called when they all got in the dark house. No answer. They made their way into the living room, looking around. It seemed all in order— nothing broken, missing, or messed with. Everything seemed normal. Except when Leah noticed a funny looking thing on the wall. Wordlessly, Leah stepped over to it. It was a small symbol of some sort. Sam walked up behind her, looking at it.

"Definitely an occult marking," he said, "either there's a demon, or these people have some serious issues." Leah reached out and touched the symbol, and then she slowly sniffed at her finger.

"Sulfur," she whispered. She turned to Castiel.

"Cas, start making a devil's trap— and quickly," she ordered. Castiel complied without question.

"Leah," Sam whispered. Leah stopped, and for a moment they all got silent. The slight sound of running water could be heard. Dean nodded toward the hallway to their right. Leah entered the hallway, Dean and Sam covering her in a military style, following the sound. They stopped in front of a door— the bathroom.

"Okay Dean," Sam said.

"I aint goin' in there," Dean responded.

"Hey, you're the one wanting to save people from showers," Sam retorted with a grin.

"Eck, she's old though," Dean replied, disgusted. Leah turned to him sharply.

"Middle-age, Dean," she mumbled.

"Still," Dean replied, quivering dramatically. Leah rolled her eyes heavily.

"Hey," Dean said suddenly, "you're a girl, Leah." Leah scowled fiercely.

"Wow Dean, I'm flattered you just now noticed," she snapped through gritted teeth. When neither man moved, Leah huffed in annoyance, and then slowly walked up to the door.

"Mrs. Wellston?" she said, her voice rising, "it's the FBI ma'am." Still no answer.

"Mrs. Wellston?" Leah repeated, pushing open the door. She stopped.

"Ah crap," she muttered, letting go of the door.

"What?" Dean questioned.

"Well, she's definitely not possessed," Leah replied. Dean and Sam looked in. There was Mrs. Wellston, on the floor, in a pool of her own blood.

"Great," Dean muttered.

"Uh oh," a new voice said suddenly, "you found her."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Cornered**

A man stood in their midst, on the other side of the room, looking at them all.

"You're a sick puppy Mr. Wellston," Dean said harshly. The man turned to him, and his eyes suddenly glinted solid black. He didn't say anything— he only looked at them. Castiel was watching him like a hawk. Amazingly, he was finished with the devil's trap; and he even had it hidden.

"Why'd you kill her?" Sam asked. The demon's gaze flickered to Sam.

"Sam Winchester," he said. He was silent.

"She got in the way. You know how people can get," he finally answered, laughing malevolently.

"So are you gonna cooperate with us or what?" Dean questioned tauntingly. The demon looked at Dean. Again he said nothing. Maybe it was his way of trying to disturb them. It was working quite well unfortunately.

"Okay," Leah finally spoke, "Let's cut the crap." Now the demon looked at her.

"Leah Marie Vaughn," he said softly. Leah tightened her grip on her gun.

"What," the demon said, "you don't remember me?" Leah narrowed her eyes and Dean, Sam, and Castiel looked at her expectantly. The demon smiled— a dazzlingly smile. An unusually, disturbing dazzling smile.

"Ugh not you again," Leah snarled in disgust, remembering the diner back in Clover. Dean looked back and forth between the demon and Leah.

"You— you _know_ each other?" he asked.

"Yeah, from back in Clover," Leah scowled.

"This is that demon?" Sam said. Leah nodded, her eyes locked on the demon.

"Yeah, we kinda clicked when we met," the demon said with a grin.

"By the way, how's our friend William McKenley?" he added.

"Doing better now that he's got all that garbage out of him," Leah growled insultingly. The demons' grin vanished.

"You should've killed him when you had the chance," he said humorlessly, "might've eased his suffering."

"Then that would make me as bad as you, now wouldn't it?" Leah retorted.

"Ooh, getting smarter by the second," the demon replied, grinning again.

"You know what, let's really cut the crap and move on," Dean said, "we got more demons to slaughter." The demon turned his unwavering gaze to Den again.

"You'll get what you want Winchester," he said quietly, but sharply, "when my master's _dead_."

"Okay, I can deal with that," Dean replied coolly. Suddenly the demon snarled, and he finally made a move. He stepped over on the carpet, and then abruptly stopped in his tracks. He looked down in surprise. Dean and Sam smirked, Leah narrowed her eyes, and Castiel watched in satisfaction and slight triumph. The demon looked up, now shifting his focus to Castiel.

"Smart little angel," he said.

"You hunters get smarter and smarter don't you?" he added, "Did you insult me just to make me ignore the devil's trap under my feet?"

"No, actually the insults were just for good measure," Leah replied.

"Now that we've got you," Dean said, "we can do this the proper way."

"Humans…" the demons said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, not all of us," Leah said.

"Oh yeah, that's right," the demon said, looking at Leah again and grinning. "You're the angel's little bitc—" but before the demon could finish, Dean was over in the devil's trap, whacking the demon in the face with the butt of his gun. Leah and Sam gaped at him.

"Don't you dare talk about Leah like that," he snarled as the demon clutched his host's face in agony, "or Castiel." Quickly Dean left the trap before the demon could grab him.

"A little touchy aren't we, Dean?" the demon said, his voice muffled by the blood pouring from his broken nose.

"It's about to get a lot worse," Dean replied. The demon looked up, wiping his nose with his sleeve.

"Do what you want," he muttered, "Who says I'll even talk?"

"For you're sake, you will," Leah said, icing her voice and smirking slightly, "I promise." The demon looked up at her, his eyes glinting black in the light of the room. Leah looked at Castiel and nodded. He nodded back, and then stepped up to the edge of the devil's trap. The demon glared at him with pure hatred. Wordlessly, Castiel raised his hand, and the demon was shot backward. He stopped halfway though, because of the barrier of the devil's trap. Castiel slowly clenched his fist, which resulted in the demon's windpipe slowly be closed shut. His eyes widened and he gasped for breath.

"Where's the sword of Zepheron?" Castiel asked darkly. The demon clawed at his throat, but his eyes narrowed.

"Is that what you're here for?" he gasped, his voice breaking.

"Yes," Castiel replied, not ceasing his death grip.

"You'll never find it," the demon choked.

"I wouldn't say that if I were you," Leah said, stepping up next to the angel. The demon looked at her.

"Why do you want it," he said, "it's just a stupid sword!"

"Yeah, a stupid sword," Leah agreed, "so why don't you just tell us where it is?"

"What if I don't know," the demon snarled.

"Well then I guess there's no point in keeping you alive, is there?" Dean replied. Castiel tightened his invisible chokehold. The demon clutched at his throat again, crying out.

"Okay so maybe I do know," the demon yelled, opening his tightly-shut black eyes to glare at them.

"Then start talking'," Dean said, "and this will all be over."

"Yeah right," the demon growled, "I tell you then you'll just kill me anyway."

"Hm… yeah," Dean replied. He pulled out a bottle of water.

"Want to do the honours, Leah?" he asked, handing Leah the bottle.

"Yes please," she said, scowling, and taking it. The demon eyed it as Leah walked into the devil's trap. She poured a little into her hand, looking at it. She looked up at the demon.

"So. You gonna tell me now?" she asked softly. She ducked her head slightly, gazing at him through her eyelashes.

"You humans are so pathetic," he said through his gritted teeth. Leah suddenly swung her handful of water at the demon. When it made contact it sizzled and sprayed, causing the demon to cry out in agony.

"Please, don't make this any more complicated," Leah said calmly. The demon shook his head roughly.

"It's not complicated," he said, "you just don't know everything."

"Well then why don't you fricken' fill us in?" Dean replied, "We have _all_ day."

"I just don't understand you," the demon spat.

"You ask about that stupid sword only because it killed you," he added. Leah stopped.

"Not because it killed me," she said, looking at the demon, "because I need to destroy it."

"Psh," the demon spat again, "yeah destroy it. Big whoop." Leah drummed her fingers against the bottle of holy water. Without warning, she sprayed it at the demon, who cried out again as it burned his skin.

"I still don't see your point," the demon gasped when he got over his spell of agony.

"Oh, you're not on the receiving end?" Leah asked half-way serious. The demon looked up at her.

"That stupid sword will do you no good," he said. Leah stopped again.

"You're making this worse for yourself," she muttered in a serious tone. The demon scowled.

"I _am_ on the receiving end," he said sharply, "it's _you_ who isn't getting the real info."

"Stop wasting your breath and just tell us already," Dean snapped, stepping up next to Leah. The demon glared at him.

"Why should I?" he growled, "I really don't care if I die. I'll be doing everyone a great honour."

"You see," Leah said, "with that you just got yourself a one-way ticked back to hell." She turned away and headed back out the devil's trap, Dean following. She nodded at Castiel who let go of the demon. The demon fell to the floor on his knees, blood, as well as holy water, still dripping from his face. He looked up, and Leah turned back to him. Sam pulled something out of his bag— a leather-bound book. Their father's. Sam flipped it open to a page, and then looked up after he glanced over it. He then began reciting the Latin incantations on the page to exorcise the demon.

"_Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica,"_ Sam read off the words fluently and swiftly. The demon lurched around, his head snapping back and forth. For a moment he stopped though, his teeth clenched in agony. But he looke up at them, and Sam stopped reading for a moment.

"You want to know?" he said. Leah only stared at him.

"The place where your killer died," the demon continued, "buried."

"See" Dean said, "Now wasn't that just a little easier?" The demon began to stand, glaring at them.

"You're all so foolish," he spat, "You just don't get it! That sword means _nothing_!" Leah nudged Sam, and he took a deep breath, and then started reading again.

"_Ergo, draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica…"_

But instead of crying out again, the demon laughed.

"Maybe next time Vaughn," he choked out. Then suddenly it was like the house exploded— the windows shattered, and the roof started caving in. Then the floor cracked— right under the demon, which broke the devil's trap. Dean sword unpleasantly as two billows of black smoke swooped in, and the demon's head snapped back and billows of black smoke poured from his lungs. Then, in the blink of an eye, the demons were gone. Mr. Wellston fell to the floor, bloodied. He was dead. All four of them looked around in shock at the destroyed house. Leah brought a hand up to her forehead. He got away again.

***


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Mistake**

Leah, Dean, Sam, and Castiel slowly got out of the Impala, staring into the familiar empty field in front of them. It brought back so many familiar feelings and memories— for all them. Especially Leah.

"God this is where I _died_," she muttered, stepping over to the edge of the grass, touching it with the tip of her foot. A similar orange light streaked across the field, and it was even just as cold as it was five months ago, since it was only March and the warm spring air still had some time left before arriving.

"Yup," Dean agreed, looking around as well.

"Let's get this over with…" Leah said, sighing, and the four of them walked out into the deadened field. It was quite a peculiar sight— Leah leading the way, followed closely by Castiel who stared out into the field as if he was looking at something in the distance. Dean and Sam flanked the angel and Leah, taking up the rear, both looking very serious, Dean with his gun cocked and ready to fight. As if there was a fight anyway.

They reached the center of the field, looking around. Leah looked down at the grass underneath them. It was all mostly green, except for a large perfect circle that was browned.

"Right there…" Leah muttered, staring at the dead grass.

"It's buried here…" Castiel said. Sam pulled out a shovel.

"Okay Dean," he said. Dean looked at him.

"I ain't diggin' that thing up," he said haughtily. Leah rolled her eyes, and before Sam could reply, she reached out and snatched the shovel.

"I'll do it," she said roughly.

"No," Castiel cut in. Leah shot him a sharp look.

"What, can I not use a shovel or something?" she asked. Castiel looked at Leah. Without a word he took the shovel and handed it to Dean.

"It is too dangerous for her."

Both Dean and Leah's expressions dropped to annoyance. Sam, however, smirked and Castiel watched as Dean began begrudgingly digging where the dead grass lay. Only a minute into digging did Dean hit something— metal. He got on him knees, pushing the dirt away. Castiel stepped closer to Leah, an air of protection seeming to surround him. At last Dean grabbed a hold of something— and pulled. The jagged sword slid out of the dirt, coated with it but glimmering in the orange light.

"Is this it?" Dean asked. Castiel nodded. He reached out and took the sword. Now _that_ was a peculiar sight. Seeing an _angel_ holding a demon sword. Castiel looked over at Leah. He stared at her a second, before turning and setting the sword down.

"Okay, here goes," Sam said. He stepped over and pulled out a bottle of salt, holy water, and gasoline. He poured a great amount of it over the whole sword, smothering it quite well.

"You do the honours Leah," Sam said, handing Leah a match. She smiled, taking the match. Quickly, she ran it across her leather jacket to catch it alight, then she looked down at the sword gleaming in the dim light of the setting sun and the flaming match above.

"G'bye…" she muttered. Then she dropped the match. In an instant the sword caught fire, consuming the metal sword.

"Finally…" Leah said, watching as the sword slowly melted and burned away.

"Ok, well…" Sam said, looking over the map in his lap, "I guess we'll just head back to Bobby's again, then… find a job or something."

"Cool," Leah said, looking around. Dean, who was driving the Impala, looked in the rearview mirror at Leah.

"Hey— are you sticking around now that this sword-crap-slash-Zepheron-stuff is over?" he asked seriously.

"Yes, Dean, I'm sticking around," Leah replied, rolling her eyes. Dean nodded in silence. But Leah saw him smile just slightly at the corner of his mouth. Leah looked over at her bag, and then began sifting through it. She frowned.

"Hey, d'you think we could stop by a laundry mat or something?" she asked. Sam looked back at her. Leah pulled out a few shirts. They were covered in blood.

"Great…" she muttered.

"Yeah we can stop," Dean replied. Leah stuffed the shirts back into her bag.

"What happened?" Sam asked curiously.

"Probably that stupid white shirt," Leah replied, "I haven't checked it since the hospital." Sam nodded, turning back to the front of the Impala. Leah looked over at the now-empty seat next to her. Castiel had left them, now knowing Leah was safe. That conversation played back in her mind—

"So you're just gonna leave then?" Leah asked, folding her arms sourly.

"Since you're no longer in danger of reanimating your wound, my job here is done," Castiel replied.

"That was quick body-guarding…" Leah muttered. Castiel turned back to Dean and Sam.

"I will stay in touch through your—phones—" he said, pulling out a small black cell phone. He looked at it a moment before stowing it away again.

"Okay then," Leah said, frowning again.

"It's not good-bye," Castiel said, looking at Leah again, "I must go and research… there is something I need to find out." Leah nodded.

"Farewell," Castiel finally said, and suddenly he was gone with the fluttering sound of wings.

Leah shook herself from the memory. _He'll be back…_ she thought quietly.

Dean parked the Impala, and Leah looked out across the parking lot at the laundry mat. When the three of them stepped out of the car, Leah notice a small local diner across the street.

"Hey," Leah said, "I'll go grab some food and meet you back in there." Dean glanced at the diner swiftly.

"'Kay," he agreed, and the three split up.

Leah walked into diner, looking around.

"How can I help you ma'am?" the waiter asked kindly at the bar counter.

"Got anything good?" Leah asked with a grin, stepping up to the counter.

"Well our morning special is sausage and an English muffin, but personally I like the biscuits and gravy," the waiter replied, whispering sarcastically.

"Okay, two biscuits and gravy, and one morning special," Leah said. "to go." The waiter nodded.

"Wow that's a lot for one person," someone spoke suddenly. Leah whipped around in shock. A young man sat on the barstool next to her. A very familiar-looking young man. Leah cocked her head slightly to the side.

"Matt?" she questioned. The young man broke out into a wide and gorgeous grin.

"Well golly, you remembered me Claire," he said joyfully. Leah smiled in uncertainty.

"Yeah," she said slowly, "wow— what's the change of seeing you here?" Matt shrugged, still grinning.

"So we meet up again and you're still eating biscuits and gravy?" he said jokingly, "and a lot more of them?"

"Well, no, these aren't all for me," Leah laughed, "they're for my friends." Matt blinked, looking at her questioningly.

"Friends?" he asked curiously, with a slightly hint of innocence.

"Yeah, I'm road-tripping with them," Leah explained.

"I thought you were road-tripping alone?" Matt asked.

"Well I was… 'til about a week ago. We met up again, and we've been travelling together since," Leah replied. Matt nodded in understanding.

"So how do you know these friends of yours?" he asked ever-so-innocently after a moment.

"Um… about five months ago my brother got into— some trouble. I met them and they decided to help me. So… we've been friends ever since really," Leah explained, trying not to give too much information.

"Well why aren't you road-tripping with your brother?" Matt asked, laughing lightly.

"Because he died," Leah said quickly, looking away. Matt's smile faded.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"Ah, don't be," Leah said, picking at a spot on the counter in front of her, "what's done is done. Can't change the past." It got silent a moment.

"Well, I'm over here blabbing," Leah said, "I didn't even ask about you. So why're you in town?"

"Just… hunting," Matt replied. Leah stopped. Strange. It wasn't hunting season around here.

"Buck?" she asked, trying not to think past the necessary boundaries.

"Hm, a little bit of everything, really," Matt said. Leah stared at him. Before she could reply, the waiter finally reappeared.

"Here you are ma'am," he said, and he placed her order on the counter.

"Um, yeah, thanks," Leah said, turning to him. She payed quickly, giving a nice tip, then she stood.

"Well, it was nice to see you again Matt," Leah said, nodding. Matt smiled.

"You too, Claire. Maybe we'll miraculously meet up again?" he replied lightly.

"Yeah," Leah said back, "maybe." And with that she left the diner.

Leah was still trying to shake off the strange feeling in the pit of her stomach when she reached the laundry mat. Sam met her at the entrance.

"Thanks Leah," he said as they walked in. Leah frowned, not replying. Dean automatically noticed her strange look.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked as he pulled out their breakfast.

"The weirdest thing happened," Leah said, frowning as she thought. "I met this guy in the diner who I haven't seen in… about a week actually." Sam looked at Leah inquisitively.

"Last week… I met this guy. Matt. In a diner one morning… We talked a little. Then we went our separate ways. Then today we just so happened to meet again, in a diner, one week later. I mean, what's the chance of that?"

"Slim?" Sam said, looking at Leah, frowning in thought as well.

"Stalker?" Dean suggested, his voice muffled by the breakfast that was stuffed in his mouth. Leah shook her head.

"No… he's too… _nice_. And mysterious," she said.

"Probably good-looking too, right?" Dean mumbled, rolling his eyes and taking another bite of his biscuit.

"Shut-up," Leah snapped, walking over to the nearest washing machine, trying to ignore Dean's comment.

"Don't worry about it Leah," Sam said encouragingly, "we'll just keep an eye out for anything unusual, okay?" Leah nodded.

"Yeah, like some random hot guy peeking in through your motel room window," Dean added with a smirk.

"Shut-up Dean," Sam said back, glaring at his brother. Dean shot Sam a dirty look and Leah rolled her eyes. She pulled out her bloody clothing from her bag. She sighed in frustration, seeing the blood. Then she pulled out her white blouse that she wore the night when her wound broke open. And they day she almost became soup on a motorcycle. _And_ the day she met up with Dean and Sam again after five months. Leah held up the memory-filled shirt. It was now almost pure red.  
"God I'm _never_ wearing white again," Leah muttered. Sam looked over at her, smiling slightly. As she threw her other clothes in, she stopped before throwing in the white blouse.

"Hey," she said, "what happened to my shirt?" she looked around, counting the clothing.

"I swear," she muttered.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"I'm missing a shirt… two shirts actually," Leah replied. Then she stopped.

"And what the crap happened to my white shirt?" she held up the red-stained shirt, inspecting the missing buttons. Dean looked up from his eating.

"Oh, um… hehe…" he said with a small nervous laugh. Leah looked at him, her eyebrows raised.

"When you—er— had your "accident," I had to, um…" Dean said, nodding at the shirt. Leah looked at it.

"You _ripped_ my fricken shirt?" she asked harshly.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Dean said with another nervous laugh.

"Well I hope you got a good show," Leah muttered darkly, turning away and throwing the shirt back in the washer. Dean only smiled slightly to himself.

"But I didn't steal your other shirts," he did add before Leah could say anything else.

"Whatever," Leah muttered," tossing the rest of her clothes into the washer. Suddenly she stopped. There was a small pain in her stomach. Then it abruptly got intense, and Leah doubled over.  
"Oh _crap_," she said through gritted teeth. Dean and Sam jumped up in alarm. Leah straightened, looking down at her hands. They were bloody.

"Not again," she said, looking up at Dean and Sam before collapsing to the floor.


	14. Chapter 14

**Finally, I got another chapter in.. I'm so sorry I've taken so long! I feel very bad about it... but, I've been side-tracked (in other words, depressed...), and so I havn't had the nice fervency that I usually have. But I'll try to keep up. I hope you can forgive me (and I hope you can remember what this story's been about!)**

**Chapter 14: Confusion**

Leah moaned again, one arm over her eyes, and the other arm cradling her stomach. She was lying on Bobby's couch; amazingly they made it there just in time. Leah's mishap was not as bad as the first time: Dean and Sam helped her quickly, trying to suppress the bleeding while the other people in the laundry mat were freaking out and calling 911. While they were there, Castiel had arrived. He had noticed that Leah's protective barrier—or whatever— was gone, and he knew something was wrong. So, seeing her predicament, he safely zapped her on over to Bobby's while Dean and Sam took no time to get moving to catch up. _That_ scene kept replaying in Leah's mind— Castiel appeared, Leah bleeding almost half to death. He explained quickly that he should take her to Bobby's, where he could help. Dean (reluctantly) agreed, and Castiel, out of the presence of humans of course, transported Leah with his angel mojo right over to Bobby's. Luckily Dean had called Bobby and informed him of the situation, and he accepted without questions. Hours later, Dean and Sam finally met up with them at Bobby's, Leah finally doing better— for the most part. Now there was only one thing going through everyone's mind at this moment— _what the _hell_ happened?_

Castiel was pacing, his dark brow furrowed in angelic thinking. Dean and Sam were watching Leah, and Bobby was muttering something as he furiously leafed through a thick old book.

"I just don't _get_ it," Leah finally murmured, her voice slightly muffled. She removed her arm from over her eyes, but her eyes remained closed. Dean and Sam looked up at Leah, and Castiel even directed his attention over to her as well. This was the first thing she had said since she regained consciousness.

"We _incinerated_ that damn sword," she said, hat _happened?_"

"Well then it was not the sword," Castiel spoke quietly, softly, as if simply thinking aloud.

"Good thinking Sherlock," Bobby replied smartly, glaring at the angel. Leah finally opened her eyes.

"Castiel has an obvious point though," she said quietly, "it's not the sword."

"Yeah, we _get_ that," Dean muttered, "so what the hell is it?"

"Well, we're back to the drawing board then," Bobby pointed out, "because I can't find anything."

"What the crap did that stupid demon mean…?" Leah asked quietly. All four men looked up at her. Leah noticed their questioning expressions. Leah sat up, t4rying not to outwardly show her painful struggle. The incident took a lot of out her.

"You know," Leah continued when she finally rested against the side of the couch, thinking back to the town where the Wellston's where possessed, "he kept saying that sword was useless. Then he said we weren't getting the right info…"

"Yeah, he was a stupid demon trying to play with you," Dean replied coldly.

"But he _knew_ about the _sword_," Leah said, now pulling herself up into a standing position. A look of intense pain crossed her face. Dean let himself down off the table he was sitting on. He started to walk over to Leah, but she held up her hands.

"Dean, c'mon," she said roughly, "I'm fine." Dean remained silent, though he pursed his lips in disapproval. It got quiet again.

"Maybe…" Leah said after a time, "Maybe it _is_ a demon?" They all looked at her again questioningly.

"I mean, what if it's a demon that was close to Zepheron or something?" Leah explained.

"But that doesn't make a lot of _sense,_" Bobby replied incredulously, "that just can't _happen…_"

"Anything can happen, Bobby," Leah said darkly.

"Not like this," Bobby said back, "a demon, no matter how close, couldn't reanimate a wound like that."

"Then why'd you propose that in the first place?" Dean cried furiously at Bobby. But suddenly Leah stopped, and she looked down in thought. Before Bobby could snap back at Dean, Sam spoke up.

"Maybe it's a relative or something?" Sam said. Leah looked up. Something struck inside of her suddenly— almost like a memory— but she couldn't figure out what. But abruptly that same thing seemed to happen to Castiel. He looked up as well.

"A relative…" he said quietly. Then something struck him as well.

"I must leave," he said quiet rapidly.

"What?" Leah, Dean, Sam, and Bobby cried simultaneously. Castiel did not seem the slightest bit willing to share his sudden epiphany with them.

"There is something I must look for," he replied simply. He seemed eager to get out, as if he did not go now he would never find it.

"Wow Cas," Leah said haughtily, frustrated, "Right when we need you the most."

"This _is_ urgent," Castiel said softly.

"Yeah, well, what if Leah has another— whatever— since we have no idea what causes it?" Dean cried.

"Bobby will help her," Castiel answered. It was more like an order, which caused a sour look to cross Bobby's face.

"Fine, whatever, go," Leah said harshly, "and good riddance."

"Keep away from all other people," Castiel said, obviously ignored Leah's last comment. Then, suddenly, he was gone with the sound of fluttering wings.

"What the crap is that supposed to mean?" Leah said to the spot where the angel just was.

"I'm starting to hate angels," Bobby muttered.

"I'm right there with you," Leah said to him darkly.

"So what now?" Sam questioned.

"Sit and wait," Bobby replied. Leah reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," she said, and with that she stalked away to go vent.

Leah leaned over the table next to Sam, watching the laptop screen. They were reading up on more demon lore, trying to find out anything about demon wounds that would help them while their main informational link to the supernatural was gone. It was already pitch black outside; Castiel had been gone for hours. And they had not heard a thing from him since his strange departure. Leah was frustrated for a while afterward. Her shower helped a little, where she vented out her anger. At first she thought her anger was toward Castiel leaving so suddenly, not giving them _anything_, but then it turned out to be anger at the sword, her wound, Zepheron, and then it got down to her life in general. But now Leah was cooled and she had been researching with Sam for a while, which kept her mind reeled away from her anger. Bobby was reading— on demons of course. He was occasionally heard mumbling in frustration, flipping through the pages in his books roughly. Dean was nowhere to be found. _Probably off killing something,_ Leah thought as she read over an article about a recent death over in Iowa. Sam clicked through a few more WebPages, only coming across demons twice. Leah sighed, standing.

"I gotta take a break," she said.

"Alright," Sam said, "I'll keep looking around. Leah nodded, and then headed off to the kitchen. She opened Bobby's fridge, and grabbed a soda. Abruptly, she heard an engine purr to life outside. Leah frowned. It sounded like the Impala. Leah crossed the kitchen over into the hallways toward the front door. Her biker boots clicked with each resounding step across the hard-wood floor. When she reached the door, she swung it opene, one hand on a knife in her back pocket. Leah blinked in surprise. The Impala, purring innocently, was parked outside Bobby's house. The car door opened and Dean stepped out, looking as nonchalant as ever. Leah looked at him inquiringly.

"Wanna go for a ride?" Dean asked. Leah noted a tone of slight uncertainty in his voice as he asked.

"E-excuse me?" she asked, laughing nervously.

"Well, I wanted to get outta here, so I thought I'd, uh, ask you," Dean explained. The way his voice seemed to drop, Leah assumed he was expecting the worst. She didn't reply right away.

"I thought you'd need a break," Dean added hastily.

"Yeah, sure," Leah said, and she smiled. Dean seemed relieved. Leah grabbed her jacket quickly, and then headed back out to the Impala.

"This is really random, you know," Leah said, jumping into the passenger's seat and closing the door.

"Yeah, well, I might even let you drive," Dean said back, putting the car in reverse. Leah grinned, looking out the window at the darkened sky.

They drove for a while, not really seeming to go anywhere in particular. Dean had Metallica blaring— for once he could let it blare because Sam wasn't there to disapprove of it. There was only Leah, who held the same love for classic rock as Dean did. Or almost the same. It was mostly silent thought— similar to the awkward silence they felt back before they met up with that demon after Leah found out about her powers. But, they did crack a few laughs during the trip when either one of them made a random comment or joke and broke the awkward silence temporarily. Before long, Dean did make a new turn, and they ended up in front of a large drop-off. Down through the clearing of the drop-off, a dark river or lake was visible. It was small, but it was a strikingly intriguing site. The rugged old trees blended in with the night sky, and the moon cast an eerie glow over the lake which resulted in the lake looking as though it was framed by the dark trees. Leah speculated this.

"Wow," she said, "nice spot."

"Yeah, I like to come down here," Dean said awkwardly. Leah shot him a sideways glance.

"When does Dean Winchester take notice of _nature_?" she asked incredulously. Dean didn't have an answer. Leah shook her head as Dean turned off the engine to the Impala. The music still played, though not as loud. In the silence, Leah finally realized the soda that she held in her hands that she took from Bobby's. She cracked it open, but didn't drink it.

"So I was thinking…" Dean started.

"Oh, that's not good," Leah said, a serious note in her voice. Dean gave her a look that made Leah grin evily. "About when you first used your—freaky angel powers." Leah stopped grinning and she rasied her eyebrows at him.

"I mean, I noticed you said something. Weird. When you exorcised those demons," Dean added, triyng to explain. Leah questioning glance dropped.

"You noticed that, huh?" she asked. Dean looked at her curiously.

"Latin…?" he asked.

"I guess," Leah replied. She fingered the lip of the soda bottle subconsciously. "I… I don't really know where it came from…"

"Well it was as sure as hell helpful," Dean said with a slight laugh. Leah remained silent and they both pondered that expression in the back of their minds.

"If only I could control it," Leah said after a moment. Dean looked over at her again.

"I shouldn't even _have_ this freaky power," Leah added. A frown crossed Dean's face.

"I should have fricken _died_," Leah continued, popping the lid of the soda bottle back on and shaking it furiously.

"Hey that's _not_ your fault!" Dean replied roughly, and Leah looked at him in shock, "if anything, take a swing at Cas for giving you a bit of himself!"

"But I should've died, Dean," Leah said quietly. Dean turned to her, serious.

"No, you should not have," he said back, "Because your apart of destiny. Or whatever."

"I thought you didn't believe in destiny?" Leah replied coolly.

"Well, I guess I do now," Dean said back. Leah knew he was thinking about Michael.

"Besides," Dean muttered, "what good would you be to m— to us, dead? Better half-angel freak than a corpse..." Leah looked up at him. She felt strange. Right at that moment, the softest Metallica song you can think of was playing. A beautiful scenery was laid out in front of them, and they were sitting in the front seats of a '67 Chevy Impala. All that Leah kept thinking was _huh?_ Leah realized for a moment that she was staring at Dean. Slowly he cast a glance at Leah. And for the first time Leah really looked into Dean's eyes. They were a soft green— and somewhat pleading. There was a soft pained look, but very small. And Dean looked into Leah's eyes— a bright ice-blue, and full of indescribable pain. Suddenly it was like gravity, or a magnet. Leah's breath fell short, and her brain felt frozen with the chilly night air. In a moment, Dean's hand was at her face, and he touched her, sending chills down Leah's spine. Never had their contact done _that_. _Breathe,_ Leah thought to herself erratically, _just breathe_… But she almost stopped breathing when she felt Dean's breath on her face.

"Dean," Leah whispered softly. Her heart was beating so hard, she as sure that every angel in heaven could hear. Her brain was almost shut down now— she couldn't even figure out the peculiar scent of his breath. Or his skin… Then, finally, their lips touched.

It was like ice was dumped on Leah suddenly. But she didn't recoil. Almost unthinkingly, her lips moved in synchronization to Dean's; a thing Leah had _never_ experienced. Her fist kiss. With Dean Winchester. Dean slowly advanced, gently, carefully, as if Leah could break in his touch. By now the Metallica music was downed out by the blood pounding in Leah's ears. Then suddenly, something unexpected happened— Leah abruptly thought of Castiel. Her eyes flew open at the same time she distinctly felt herself shudder as Dean brought a hand to her side. In an instant Leah broke away from Dean, who stared at her as if he'd done something wrong. Leah shook her head, and then wordlessly she climbed out of the Impala. Dean sat there, stunned. That was his moment, and something blew it. He too got out, staring after Leah.

"Leah," he breathed, unsure of what to say.

"Dean, I can't…" Leah replied. He back was to him. Her arms folded. Dean was about to ask why, when suddenly his phone began ringing with a cheap imitation of a AC/DC song. Scowling, he answered it.

"Yeah?" he growled.

"Dean," Sam said, "you'd better get over here now. Castiel's back." Dean sighed. He replied with a thick "alright" and then closed his phone.

"Castiel's back," he said quietly to Leah. Leah turned slightly, chilled at the angel's name. Then she nodded.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Bad Company**

Leah and Dean walked into Bobby's living room silently. Nobody questioned where they had been— they had their own ideas. Except maybe Castiel, who was standing in the middle of the room, looking more disturbed than they had ever seen him before. As soon as he spotted Leah he started off.

"I have… news," he said. He was mainly looking at Leah and his voice was very grave. Leah automatically ignored what had happened with Dean and focused with deep concern on Castiel.

"Well?" Bobby asked. Castiel glanced over at him briefly.

"This is more serious than I thought," Castiel started, and he paused. The silence was deafening.

"We may be dealing with a devil's bond."

It got very quiet.

"Come again?" Dean asked, and he stared at Castiel in utter perplexity.

"A devil's bond. It's a strong bond between two demons— especially family," Castiel explained solemnly, "especially _brothers_." Suddenly it hit Leah and she gasped loudly. All heads turned to her.

"Oh my _God_," she said, her hand coming to her forehead. A sudden image exploded in her brain— _Zepheron reached inside his jacket, pulling out a jagged sword similar to Leah's. _

"_My brother gave this to me…" he said. _

All four men looked at Leah expectantly.

"Zepheron mentioned a brother…" Leah whispered.

"And he owned the sword," Castiel finished.

"Do you really think…?" Leah said quietly. Castiel nodded somberly.

"You think Zepheron's brother is out there?" Dean asked the angel. Castiel nodded again.

"And he's trying to kill Leah?" Dean added. Another nod.

"And this devil's bond thingy?" Dean continued. But before Castiel could answer again, and sudden clapping resounded. They all whipped around in shock.

"Congrats," said the newcomer, "you got it."

The man's eyes glinted black. A demon.

"Miss me?" he asked, directing his attention toward Leah.

"_You_," Leah growled through her grinding teeth. The demon grinned at her.

"You _did_ miss me," he said with a small humorless laugh.

"I'm gonna kill you," Dean said. The demon simply ignored him.

"Bog mistake putting me in the devil's trap," he said to Leah. When Dean made a defensive move toward him, the demon suddenly raised his hand lazily and flicked it, sending Dean flying backward. There was a loud thump as he hit the wall, and no one dared move for fear of the same thing happening.

"By the way, that sword didn't help anything, did it?" the demon asked, continuing as if nothing had happened. Dean moaned from behind them, and Leah gritted her teeth even more.

"How'd you know?" she asked the demon harshly.

"Like I said sweetie, I _am_ on the receiving end of things. Good thinking on Zepheron's brother, though," the demon replied.

"Why're you here?" Sam questioned harshly. Leah could tell that he wanted to go and help Dean very badly. The demon laughed.

"To gloat of course," he said dangerously, his eyes glinting, "and to kill you all." He then looked at Castiel. By now Dean was slowly starting to stand up.

"I think I'll start with the angel," the demon said. Without thinking, Leah stepped in front of Castiel protectively. _Illogical_.

"Okay," the demon said, "I'm flexible." He raised his hand to her. But quite suddenly he stopped. A funny look crossed his face; he looked as though he was choking. And then and strange light suddenly burst forth in the room, and out of the blue a man appeared. And through the confusion, the demon abruptly vanished in a thick cloud of black smoke.

Nobody moved. Even Castiel looked thoroughly shocked and confused. At last their confuzzled attention was drawn to the new person in their midst.

There stood a man. He was tall, thin, and elegant-looking. He had short cropped, almost pure-white blonde hair, and sharp icy-blue eyes. His young face was black. He also wore black pants, black shoes, and a white dress shirt with a dark tie.

In an instant, all four hunters had their guns pulled out and aimed at the strange new guy. The tall man's icy gaze swept over all of them without even blinking or showing concern over their weapons that were pointed at him. His gaze lastly fell on Leah. Castiel, though, was the only one who didn't look surprised or shocked any more. In fact, he looked— _tired_.

"Who the _hell_ are you?" Bobby asked harshly. The new man's gaze fell to Bobby. He finally blinked softly, once.

"Bobby Singer," the man said quietly. His voice was rich, and slightly monotonous. That suddenly reminded Leah of someone. The man's gaze flickered to Dean and Sam.

"Dean and Sam Winchester,"  
he continued. He was addressing them. Then he looked at Castiel.

"Castiel," he said. It was almost curt when he addressed the angel.

"It's been a while," he added. Castiel lifted his head, not removing his gaze from the newcomer's face.

"Wait, you _know_ him?" Dean asked Castiel. At that, Castiel's gaze dropped to the floor. The newcomer looked over at Dean, then at all of them again.

"I am Ezekiel," he said, with an air of supreme authority, "an angel of the Lord."

"Great," Dean muttered. He didn't lower his gun. Ezekiel looked at Dean again.

"You don't believe me?" he questioned.

"Oh I believe you," Dean snapped, "it's just that not all angels we've met have been peachy keen."

"He believes you are not— with us," Castiel spoke suddenly. Ezekiel looked over at him.

"Oh I am not with the angel's, if that's what you mean," he explained, "but I am not with the humans either."

"Oh boy, Switzerland," Dean grumbled.

"Why're you here?" Leah finally spoke up. At last Ezekiel's gaze fell back to Leah once more. He seemed to soften slightly.

"Leah…Leah Marie Vaughn," he said quietly. He seemed almost awed. And— ashamed? Leah nodded at him.

"I-I came to help," Ezekiel answered finally. Leah blinked in surprise at his stammer. Do angel's do that/

"I thought you just said you weren't with the humans?" Sam questioned, narrowing his eyes.

"He's neutral. He'll help when he's needed," Castiel replied before Ezekiel could.

"And," the new angel pointed out, "I know what you seek. Or rather, who you seek."

"You know who Zepheron's brother is?" Leah asked, loosing her tight grip over her gun. Ezekiel looked at her.

"Yes I do," he replied, "and he's one of the most powerful demons you might ever encounter."

"Well who is he?" Bobby demanded. Ezekiel shifted his gaze over to him, his eyes sharpening as he spoke.

"His name… is Matthias."

It was silent a moment.

"Okay, where is he and how do we kill him?" Dean asked, breaking the silence.

"It isn't that simple," Ezekiel replied, "You can never go and find him."

"Oh _don't_ throw us the holy protection stuff again," Leah said angrily in defense. Ezekiel looked at her once more.

"That's not what I'm referring to," he said softly, "he will never _let_ you near him. He likes to _destroy_, one at a time. And he's very good at hiding and staying hidden."

"So what, abandon all hope, throw our hands in the air, and let all hell break loose? Further?" Dean asked hotly.

"No. Do not give up. Rather, keep persevering," Ezekiel said.

"Easier said than done, when we can't even kill him one on one," Leah said back.

"You can still fight," Ezekiel continued, "but my point is that Matthias is not just another demon. He's not even like his brother. He's…" he stopped though, almost reluctant to speak.

"What? He's what?" Leah asked. Ezekiel looked up at her. He now looked almost saddened.

"He's…" he started, but he changed course. "He hates humans…almost more than any other demon. And.. he, like you figured out, owns the sword… that killed you…" The angel seemed to be trying to will Leah to figure something out. Leah stopped, thinking. Her mind reeled to the scene with Zepheron, and he death by his sword. _He held up the sword, and said, _

"_My brother gave me this sword. The demon who made the deal."_

"No," Leah said abruptly, laughing slightly, "Matthias? The demon…?"

"Who made the deal when you were cursed two-thousand years ago," Ezekiel finished. Now it got deathly silent in the room.

"Wait… Matthias…" Leah started, trying to piece it together.

"Matthias… is the demon that made the deal… two thousand years ago?" Sam said. Ezekiel nodded slowly.

"But… how do _you_ know?" Leah asked, thinking hard. Ezekiel didn't reply.

"Everyone knows _that_ there's a legend," Leah continued, "but no one knows _who_ is in the legend. I mean, the only person who _could_ know besides Matthias's brother is—" but Leah stopped mid-sentence.

"The angel who cursed you," Castiel finished. A blank look crossed Leah's face, and she blinked twice. Then her face fell slightly.

"No. No no no..." she said quietly, looking at Ezekiel.

"You can't be serious… you're not…" she stammered. Ezekiel then looked down. The look of shame worsened.

"Oh my God you _curse me!_" Leah cried suddenly, "_You're _the one who _cursed_ me?"

"My God, you son of a bi—" Leah started.

"Leah," Castiel interrupted, "It is not Ezekiel's fault."

"Oh yeah, that's right," Leah fumed, turning on Castiel, "_Matthias_ started it all!"

Ezekiel's expression changed dramatically at that.

"You think I had a _choice_?" he demanded darkly, his icy eyes flashing, "I could've sacrificed myself and allowed a thousand other humans die." Leah tightened her pressed lips angrily.

"I would've sacrificed myself," Ezekiel continued coldly, "to save you."

"But you couldn't," Sam said quietly.

"No. I couldn't," Ezekiel replied.

"So why are you here? Why show up _now_?" Leah snapped harshly.

"Because now is when you need me the most. I've been following you. I know now that you need my help."

"You've been following her?" Dean questioned, and Leah noticed a hint of slightly hysteria in his voice.

"I know I would need to surface for sometime," Ezekiel replied.

"Why?" Sam asked.

"Because," then angel said quietly, "I'm the only one who can kill Matthias."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: The Road Going Nowhere

"So lemme get this straight," Dean muttered. They were all now seated in Bobby's living room, except for Ezekiel and Castiel. It had been some time now— they had been discussing Matthias for the past hour. It was all so surreal to Leah.

"So Matthias, who brawled with you two thousand years ago, and forced you to curse Leah, is now out prancing around causing Leah's freaky demonic wound, caused by being stabbed by Matthias' sword, to start popping open at random moments?" Dean finally asked. Ezekiel nodded.

"And _you're_ the only one who can kill him?" Dean added. Another nod from Ezekiel.

"And basically we can never really _find_ him?" Leah imputed. Ezekiel frowned at that.

"It will not be _impossible_ to find him," he said, very quietly, as if talking to Leah might set her off, "But he doesn't like to be out. He hates humans with such a passion like no other."

"So we've figured," Dean mumbled to himself. Ezekiel sighed quietly. It was a gentle, angelic sound, like the cooing of a dove.

"The hardest part will be finding him," he said, softly, "once we do… I will kill him." Leah stood, facing all of them.

"Then I say we get moving," she said, "the sooner the better. I wanna find this monster, and I want to watch him die." Ezekiel looked over at Leah with utmost peculiarity. Bobby, Dean and Sam looked at Leah with eyes full of admiration and pride, and Castiel seemed to even have a slight sense of admiration as well; if that was possible.

"We will find him Leah," Castiel said softly. Leah looked at him for a moment, feeling very grateful for the angel.

"She is right," Ezekiel spoke up, "we must get moving as soon as possible. The more leads we have on him, the faster we will find him. He can't be too far." Ezekiel glanced at Leah. Suddenly Dean stopped. He looked sharply over at Ezekiel.

"Wait. How can we even trust you?" he challenged suddenly. Ezekiel looked at him curiously and questioningly, as if he had never seen something quite like Dean before.

"You're an _angel_," Dean spat sharply, "no offense to Cas."

"Non taken," Castiel muttered quietly.

"You're questioning my allegiance?" Ezekiel retorted. His voice was calm, but it was spine-chillingly cold. But Dean stood.

"We don't even know whose side you _are_ on," he said back.

"Yeah, he's right," Leah said, looking over at Ezekiel, and standing as well, "how can we trust you?"

"Though I would much prefer to agree with Leah," Castiel spoke up, "I have to say that Ezekiel is the best chance we have." Dean turned and glared at Castiel.

"Whose side are _you_ on?" he demanded angrily.

"Ezekiel _will_ help us," Castiel continued, "because of Leah."

"And it all falls on _me_," Leah muttered bitterly, but loud enough for them to hear, "again."

"Since… I am in your debt," Ezekiel said.

"Debt?" Leah said suddenly. "Oh that's great. Very nice."

"Look," she added, "I don't want you in my debt. Yeah, you cursed me. I'll kill you later, after you kill Matthias for me. In the meantime, you're going to be on _our_ side."

"A debt cannot be easily erased or discarded like that," Ezekiel said.

"Well," Leah replied, plastering on a disturbingly calm smile, "you'll be the first one." Ezekiel blinked his icy blue eyes.

"Okay boys," Leah said, turning, "let's move out."

"Wait Leah," Sam suddenly spoke up, stopping her, "_you_ can't." Leah looked at him.

"And may I ask why the hell not?" she asked sharply.

"Because of Matthias," Sam replied, giving her a look that told her he was completely right.

"Sam's right," Bobby added, confirming Leah's worst fear, "that's the second time you've bled out. Now I have to say that's cutting it a little close." Leah looked at him in shock. And Bobby was usually on her side.

"How the hell am I going to help then?" she gasped, anger swelling up inside of her.

"I can help with that," Ezekiel said. Leah looked at him.

"I can help seal the wound. I do not know how permanent it might be though…" he added. Leah thought on this a moment, unsure about it. She wasn't too keen on the idea of this angel doing something to her. He already cursed her once.

"Okay… fine…" she finally said, and she made sure there was full reluctance in her voice. Ezekiel stepped up to her.

"Hey," Leah said, holding out her hands in front of her, "this isn't going to hurt is it?"

"It will feel uncomfortable," Ezekiel said truthfully. But before Leah could reply, the angel reached out and placed a palm on her shoulder. Suddenly Leah felt a strange burning sensation. Her mouth opened in a yell, but no sound came out. When Ezekiel released her, she groaned, swaying slightly. Ezekiel held out an arm to support her.

"Ow…" Leah muttered. Ezekiel released her again when she regained her balance, looking at her apologetically. Leah shook her head roughly.

"Okay, now we can get moving," she said. "Dean, I know it's late. Do you think you can drive?" Dena nodded without question.

"You're gonna leave _now_?" Bobby questioned incredulously. Leah smiled weakly.

"Don't worry about us Bobby," she said quietly. Then she turned to the other men.

"Okay," she said, motioning to ward the door.

They unusual group of hunters and angel's traveling all night and all day. They were really driving aimlessly; looking for clues, anything that might lead to demons. It was like searching for Zepheron— only a harder, and more dangerous kind. Ezekiel didn't stick around as much as Leah thought he might— she automatically didn't like the angel very much (personal reasons, you know), so Leah figured he must've guess that. Now they were driving around South Dakota, awaiting directions from the angel. Eventually they did stop at a motel though.

Leah ran her knife across its sharpener as quietly as she could. It was quiet in the motel, and dark. There were two beds on the opposite side of the room, and one couch. Sam was fast asleep. His laptop stood open in front of him, now off. Leah could hear Castiel and Ezekiel outside the motel in the chilly spring air— they were quietly discussing things in low voices, so Leah couldn't quite make out what they were saying. _Angel things I suppose,_ Leah thought to herself, running her knife across the sharpener again. _That or Matthias or something._ Nobody had really talked about Matthias much. They all seemed to be slightly numbed by it. After five months, it never occurred to Leah that Zepheron really had a brother. Let alone a brother that was out ready to kill Leah now. Castiel had explained that Zepheron and Matthias had a demon blood-bond going on (devil's bond for families). Basically, if one of the brother's was killed, then the other brother who lived would avenge his brother's death. And, because of their bond, Zepheron was the one who chosen to kill Leah and break the seal. Which he did, and then Leah killed him. And now Leah was being hunted by the vengeful brother, Matthias, who pretty much was the real cause of Leah being cursed. It was all messed up.

Leah stopped sharpening her blade to listen to the angelic conversation. She caught a few words as she listened hard: "Leah," "Dean and Sam," "Matthias," "blood-bond," and "curse." They were going everything _again._ Leah started sharpening again, but she stopped again when she heard movement. She looked over toward the oppose side of the room, and she saw a dark shape against the slightly lighter background.

"Leah?"

It was Dean.

"Yeah?" Leah whispered back. Dean crept silently over to Leah.

"What're you doing up?" Dean asked when he sat down beside her.

"Can't sleep," Leah replied. "You?"

"Me neither…"

It got quiet a moment.

"Leah… I wanted to talk abut… the other night," Dean said softly. Leah could hear the awkwardness in his voice. He was seeming to struggled with his words. Leah didn't object. That was one of the things on her mind. But Leah kept quiet, and she began filing the blade again.

"I… I'm… sorry," Dean said quietly, "I—"

"Dean," Leah said, stopping, "don't hurt yourself. It's okay." Dean looked over at her wearily.

"It's just… I'm not ready," Leah continued. Dean gave her inquiring looked. He didn't ask, though Leah knew what he was thinking.

"Because… I'm just not. Especially not with you," she added.

"What wrong with me?" Den asked, offended.

"Because you're, well, Dean Winchester. Everyone who knows you knows what you're like…" Leah said gently. This time Dean got quiet.

"I need… I need more than just a one-night stand. I don't want to be with you one day, then the next day see you with another girl," Leah explained. Dean looked down. He seemed slightly ashamed. But he understood. But there was also something else. Something Leah wanted desperately to figure out. Her mind reeled back to the scene that night. She let it replay in her mind— _Dean slowly advance on her, gently, lovingly, an Leah let him. That is until Leah thought unexpectedly of Castiel._ Why the _heck_ did she think of Castiel? Leah let those feelings flow back to her for a moment, and she felt… shock. Misunderstanding. Eh… passion? Leah refused that one. She's practically annoyed with Castiel right now. Though it had gotten better, she still hated the fact that he wanted to constantly protect her. But still. Something like shame… or sorrow. Like she was afraid that Castiel would find them, and that would… hurt him?

Leah shook her head. This wasn't working out right. She brought herself back into reality.

"So… that's it then?" Dean asked quietly. Leah looked over at him, and she could barely see his outline through the darkness.

"Yeah yeah, I know, you're the committing type," Dean mumbled. Leah looked down. That was part of the reason.

"This isn't gonna… ruin anything is it?" Leah asked very softly.

"Nah," Dean replied coolly. Leah looked over at him again.

"You sure? 'Cause I don't want to hurt you—"

"Hey," Dean said, holding up his hands, "don't get all soft and mushy on me now." Leah's expression dropped. She sharply ran the blade across it's filer again. Typical Dean.

"But y'know, we could always try again," Dean started.

"G'night Dean," Leah interrupted, not taking her eyes away from the blade and it's filer. Dean stood to leave her. But he stopped. He sat down again, causing Leah to look over at him.

"So what'd you think about Matthias and everything?" he asked. Leah frowned.

"I don't know… it's kinda weird I guess. Then it's kinda like déjà vu, knowing that there's a demon out there trying to kill me again," Leah replied, faking a smile.

"Yeah, aint that the story of your life," Dean mumbled.

"I just wish it wasn't me, y'know?" Leah said, "and I wish you guys didn't have to be dragged into this."

"Hey, I'm glad to help," Dean started, "that's what hunters do."

"I mean, you guys are hunting the devil… you really don't need this too."

"Hey, I can handle it. What one more demon?" Dean said. Leah was quiet a moment.

"And this thing with Ezekiel…" she said even more quietly, fearing the listening ear of the angels outside. A hint of coldness clipped her voice.

"Yeah I know. I can't trust him easily," Dean replied.

"I mean, I know Castiel trusts him," Leash said, "but for God's sake, this guy cursed me. That doesn't go over too well."

"Well, he's the only thing we got to get to Matthias. And if he's right about killing Matthias, then… we'll just have to deal with him," Dean said back. Leah nodded, looking down again at her blade, which wasn't getting any sharper.

"I hope this is over quick…" she said roughly.

"Don't we all," Dean said. Then he stood again.

"You should get some rest," he added, looking down at Leah. She looked up at him as well.

"You too," she said. She watched him quietly make his way back over to his bed. Leah listened quietly again. Castiel and Ezekiel had fallen silent.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: In the Demon's Lair**

"If you keep heading northwest you'll hit Reliance," Leah said, skimming over the map of South Dakota. They were traveling again. It was back to the four of them again; Leah was quietly praising God. Though Ezekiel popped up every now and then to give some information, he pretty much steered clear of them. Of course it would be too crowded with five people in the Impala, even though Castiel occasionally left them to go with Ezekiel, but Leah didn't want to deal with the angel. His last bit of information was leading them to Reliance. He got wind that the demon that Ezekiel ran off back at Bobby's was back again. This time they wanted to kill him.

Leah looked out across the morning sky. It wasn't any warmer than it had been, even though April was beginning to creep up. Actually, it would be April in a few days time. The yellow sun peeked over the top of the horizon, making he sky seem a soft baby blue. Leah turned away from the beautiful scene outside her window. She cast a swift glance over at Castiel, who decided to travel with them for a while again. She was surprised that he stayed, since she figured that now that she could hunt without the constant fear of her demonic wound breaking open again, he'd want to leave. But Leah also had the distinct feeling that he was still worried about her condition. Or maybe he just really wanted to kill this demon finally.

It wasn't long before they reached Reliance. Of course it was a small town. And pretty desolate-looking too. The four of them climbed out of the Impala (well, Dean, Sam, and Leah did, while Castiel just evaporated from the inside and appeared on the outside like usual). They peered around curiously and cautiously, before looking at the diner which they parked outside of.

"We should ask for directions, ask around a bit," Leah suggested.

"Good idea," Sam added. The foursome quietly walked toward the diner.

"Can I help you?" the bartender asked when the hunters got inside. He looked up from cleaning a glass.

"Actually yeah," Dean answered, stepping up to the counter.

"Do you know where seventeen sixty-two, Colton Avenue is?" Dean asked, pulling out a slip of paper and showing it to the man.

"Yeah, that place it empty," the guy replied, "you looking to buy it or somethin'?"

"Well, we're attending a college not far from here, and we was looking for a place to rent close to the campus," Dean replied coolly and convincingly. The waiter leaned to the side to get a look at the other three behind Dean.

"I've already called a realtor," Dean added quickly, "Erica Hart." The waiter held an unreadable expression.

"You guy's all family?" the waiter asked curiously.

"Yeah, we're brothers," Dean said motioning to Sam.

"And they're our cousins, siblings also," Sam added in, nodding to Leah and Castiel, who both had similar blue eyes.

"We've been planning this for a while," Leah cut in quickly to try and ease the suspicion, and she flashed the man a pleasing smile.

"Yeah… um, go down to the right two blocks, then turn left. You can't miss the house. It's really old," the waiter finally said.

"Thanks," Dean said. He nodded at the waiter, then at the other three, and they walked out into the bright sunshine.

"You should help talk to people more often. That guy was eating you up," Dean mumbled. Leah only smiled.

Just like the waiter said, it wasn't hard to find the house. It was tall, long, and simply _old_. It leaned to one side, and it's moldy shingles were falling off mostly on the left side of the roof. It was fairly handsome otherwise.

"They want people to rent _this_?" Dean cried, examining the old thing.

"Oh Dean," Leah muttered, stepping up to the old gate, which was rusty as all put out, "it's not _that_ bad—" AS she said that, she slightly pushed open the gate to open it. It toppled over at her touch, as if waiting to do so. It shattered loudly as it collided with the hard concrete beneath it. Leah starred at it wordlessly.

"Yeah Leah," Sam said, and he laughed slightly as he stepped past Leah to get up to the house.

The inside wasn't as bad as the outside. The walls were clean, showing obviously that someone cared for it previously, though everything was extraordinarily dusty. It looked untouched for years. Just as Leah began to doubt the presence of the demon, there was flutter of wings.

"He _is_ here," Ezekiel spoke quietly. Leah turned to him sharply. She groaned inwardly at the sight of him.

"We'll need to hurry with the devil's trap—" Sam started, but Ezekiel shook his head in silent protest.

"We don't have time for a devil's trap," he said shortly.

"So what, you plan on interrogating him over a cup of tea?" Dean asked smartly.

"I have my ways," Ezeliek replied simply and coldly, stepping forward. The rest of them walked in line with the angel until they came across another room. A plastic sheet covered the entrance. Ezekiel pushed it away nonchalantly, dust flying everywhere. His white-blond hair was instantly caked in a layer of dust, giving him an ashen look that he seemed not to notice. Sam cocked his salt gun higher. This next room was pretty normal; despite the satanic markings covering the walls.

"Figures," Leah mumbled, looking around, "he's definitely here alright. Funny how they let us know, isn't it?" They all glanced around furtively— it was a fairly small room, and this room looked the most sued. A set of red candles lined the right wall on top of a dusty mahogany piano. The candles were lit and half-way gone. Leah stepped over to them, fingering a slip of paper sitting next to the candles. There were strange markings littering the paper, symbols, and a language that looked like a mix of Latin and something else.

"Man, this guy was really creative," Dean muttered, picking up a frame that held something that looked disturbingly like an assortment of teeth in the shape of an upside-down pentagram.

"Oh you humans and angels are _so_ nosy, you know that?" a new voice spoke. Leah, Sam, and Dean whipped around at the new voice, alarmed. There he stood— the demon.

"How do you like the house?" the demon asked lightly and conversationally, as if they were all sitting down and having a pleasant conversation.

"It's damn creepy, I'll give you that," Dean replied, putting the dusty frame of teeth back on the even dustier shelf. The demon smiled.

"I suppose you're back for one more nice little chat?" the demon asked.

"Yeah something like that," Dean replied, smiling humourlessly.

"We've come to kill you," Ezekiel said blankly suddenly. Dean turned to look at him, giving the angel a look of pure annoyance. The demon focused his sharp gaze on the new angel, looking mildly surprised at his appearance.

"So you're the one that ran me off, right when I was having fun?" he asked. Ezekiel only glared with righteous anger.

"I'm gonna kill you first," the demon said, pointing at the angel.

"Then the other angel," he added, shooting a nasty grin at the silent Castiel, "because I really hate you."

"And then I'll make myself a tasty human à la crème," he added, putting on a smile and looking at Dean, Sam, and Leah with an look full of hunger.

"I don't think you'll be having anything," Leah said back, causing the demon to look hungrily over at her, "except maybe go-to-hell-and-burn- à la crème." The demon's smile began to fade.

"When will you ever learn, Vaughn?" the demon said harshly. Before he could do anything though, Ezekiel raised his hand simply. The demon stopped, his eyes widening for a moment. He was glued in place. His shocked expression dropped quickly.

"Ugh," he said, grinding his teeth furiously, "you stupid cloud-dwellers are getting better at this." Leah stepped up to the now-struggling demons, lowering her gun slightly.

"Look," she said, "I'm not really in the torturing mood today." The demon only glared.

"So why don't you just cooperate?" she added, faking a tone of kindness. The demon gave her a strained smile the his young host's face.

"I suppose we're all on the same page then, eh? Now that you know about Matthias…" he said. Leah nodded.

"So, why should I tell you anything?" the demon added. Leah let out a long sigh.

"Because I know a few people in this room who _are_ in the torturing mood," she replied. The demon's grin faded again.

"Fine. Shoot the questions."

"Okay— number one," Leah said, and she began pacing in front of the struggling demon, "Where's Matthias?" The demon stared at Leah for a second before bursting out in forced laughter.

"Good question," he replied, pausing to take a breath. Leah wasn't laughing. The demon noticed her hard glare.

"What? You really think I know?" he asked.

"Yeah," Leah said simply.

"Well I don't. He moves around too much."

"You gotta know where he hides," Leah said impatiently. The demon started to laugh again, this time a little more hysterically. But he stopped when he saw Leah's serious expression.

"Wait— you seriously think Matthias is in hiding?" he asked. Leah frowned.

"Oh boy, this is good," the demon added, and he grinned more genuinely.

"Care to share?" Dean piped in.

"Not particularly," the demon replied. Leah nodded at Ezekiel. He barely moved his raised hand, and the demon let out a scream of pain.

"God, you just love that don't you?" the demon scowled through his teeth. Leah ignored him.

"Okay, what do you mean by he doesn't hide?" Leah questioned further.

"He doesn't _hide_, how more simple can that get?" the demon asked smartly, "He's to good for that. Do you really think he goes around hiding from humans and killing them when he gets bored?" Everyone in the room waited for the demon to continued. The demon sighed, knowing he had no choice but to talk.

"Matthias used to hide and everything," he continued, "until that _angel_ came and tried to stop him from killing the little brats they call children. _Human-lover…_" the demon spat out his words before continuing. "After making the deal and forcing that angel to curse a human," the demon flashed a smile at Leah, "Matthias decided to move out of the shadows and just start killing off humans the easy way— _by living among them._" It was quiet a moment. Sop Matthias was out on the loose?

"And the funny thing is, Vaughn, you don't even realize that you've _met_ him," the demon added. Leah stopped.

"What?" she asked, completely bewildered. Even Castiel and Ezekiel looked thoroughly shocked. The demon grinned at this.

"Yes Leah, you've met him alright," the demon continued. Leah looked at him in utter confusion. The demon grinned more broadly, seeming to relish her shock and confusion at this piece of information.

"_Biscuits and gravy can do that to a person_," the demon said, and his voice had changed to something oddly familiar. Leah stopped, her mind reeling. That voice…

"Oh my God," Leah said. Dean and Sam were watching Leah and the demon, obviously not following.

"M-matt…" Leah whispered, remembering the young dark-haired man in the diner two weeks ago. And the recent encounter a few days previously.

"That guy you kep meeting in the diner?" Sam asked.

"I knew he was trouble," Dean added.

"_Him?_ But… he was so—"

"Nice?" the demon finished for Leah, "He's very good at that. He has it in for the pretty little ladies."

"Does… does he know who I am?" leah asked, unconsciously loosing her hard interrogative tone.  
"Only recently did he figure that out," the demon replied coolly. Suddenly something else also occurred to Leah.

"This makes sense…" she said, turning to Dean, Sam, Castiel, and Ezekiel.

"Both of the incidences with my wound occurred right after I met with Matt! Though it didn't take as long the second time… because he's getting stronger now that he knows who I am…" Leah pieced together.

"So this Matt guy is really Matthias… and he's doing this to you?" Sam questioned.

"You got it," the demon said. He seemed awfully giddy at their discovery.

"My God…" Leah whispered, overwhelmed.

"No, God doesn't have anything to do with this," the demon replied smartly. Leah turned to him, regaining a furious and rough expression.

"I thought Matthias hated humans?" she asked.

"Oh he does," the demon said still more coolly, "More than ever. But after tow thousand years he's found many ways to deal with them. You humans are becoming just to easy to manipulate." Leah turned away again, letting all this soak in. It was all beginning to fit into one big ugly picture— and Leah was a big part of it.

"You plan on killing him don't you?" the demon asked curiously.

"Wow, you catch on quick," Dean snapped. The demon ignored him.

"You humans also get even more stupid," he spat, "but I'm surprised at your nerve. I figured of all people, Leah, you would know what all this means."

"Me of all people?" Leah asked, turning again, sounding curious. The demon laughed bitterly.

"You don't even know who you _are_," he continued. Leah shook her head and turned again, walking away.

"Matthias is going to kill you Leah," the demon said after her, "just like your parents, just like your cousin, just like your brother! _You're going to die!_" Finally Leah snapped. She swung around and raised her hand like Ezekiel. Ezekiel blinked in shock as the demon was pulled from his grasp and sent flying backward into the wall. He hit a bookshelf, and then slumped to the floor gasping for breath.

"That's right," the demon said through his teeth, "use your anger. Let it fuel you…" Leah walked over to the demon as he attempted to lift himself up off the dusty floor.

"The only thing I'm gonna let fuel me is your death," she muttered to him, "good-bye." And with that, Leah, without even thinking," grabbed the demon by the base of him jaw. His mouth opened in a silent scream, and a yellow flash erupted from the inside and out of the orifices of his face. The human host slumped to the floor, unconscious. Leah stood, flexing her hand. She turned to a proud-looking Dean and Sam, an impassive Castiel, and a thoroughly shocked Ezekiel. She was going to have to do some serious explaining about _that_ to the new angel.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: Awakening**

Leah sighed, grabbing her bag on the motel bed. They were leaving again— they had lots to do. Finding Matthias was one of them. Ezekiel had disappeared yet again; he claimed that he would be back whenever things got really serious, like actually finding Matthias. Leah was utterly grateful. She sighed as she thought about her explanation to Ezekiel about her display of powers a few days before. He was obviously shocked by it, and he obviously didn't know that it was really mostly Castiel's doing. He did understand though, that some of it was because of Leah's curse ("I… when I cursed you, Leah, of course that was going to give you a bit of unusual powers," Ezekiel had said quietly. He looked over at Castiel, and they stared at each other for the longest time as if silently communicating.). Ezekiel seemed to disapprove of Castiel's decision to give Leah some of his powers, but he did understand that it was the only way to resurrect her.

Leah stuffed the rest of her weapons into her bag, closing it up quickly. She ignored a sudden page of something that felt strangely like butterflies when she heard a familiar soft sound of fluttering wings.

"Leah," Castiel said quietly out of the air. Leah turned her head to the side to acknowledge him.

"Dean and Sam are waiting," he added. Leah nodded reaching over the bed to check the nightstand for anything she or the boys might have left. Leah could hear the car door of the Impala outside through the open motel room door. As Leah realized one more misplaced item on a table, her phone, which was placed on the table nearest Castiel, started buzzing wildly. Castiel looked down at it curiously. Leah grabbed the weapons she missed rapidly, but before she could turn around, Castiel had picked up Leah's phone.

"Hello?" he questioned hesitantly. Leah stuffed the weapon inside her back and spun around on the spot as the person on the other line answered,

"H-hello? I am calling Leah Vaughn's phone, right?"

"Yes," Castiel replied.

"Who are _you_?" the person asked incredulously. BY this time was furiously walking over to Castiel.

"I am Cas—" but before Castiel could finish Leah snatched the phone from the angel's fingers.

"Hello?" Leah asked haughtily.

"Leah?" the voice asked.

"Jonathan…" Leah breathed.

"Who the hell was that?" Jonathan cried bitterly.

"Just a friend," Leah said quickly. Castiel was watching Leah curiously. Jonathan seemed to want to say something about that, but instead he sighed heavily.

"Jonathan," Leah asked, sensing his strange mood," "what is it?"

"It's William," Jonathan said, McKenley." Leah went cold. _Oh God, no…_ Leah thought.

"Jonathan… is he… is..?" she stammered.

"He's… he's asking for you," Jonathan said. Leah clamped a hand over her mouth in utter shock. She was expecting the worst.

"He's _alive_? And _awake?_" Leah finally gasped, removing her hand, too shocked to be relieved.

"Yes," Jonathan said, "and he wants to see you. Meet you is more like it…" Leah brought a hand to her forehead. Before she could say anything else though, Dean and Sam suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Leah, hey, we gotta get moving—" Sam started, but Leah help up a precautionary hand.  
"Wait, right now? You mean he wants me to come?" Leah asked Jonathan on the other line.

"Oh yeah. He's alive and kicking, and he wants to see you badly," Jonathan replied.

"Oh thank God…" Leah said, relief finally overtaking her.

"So you'll come?" Jonathan asked.

"Of course I will," Leah replied. She could hear the smile in his voice when he spoke.

"Okay, good…. See you then," he said. Leah smiled briefly, then said good-bye and shut her phone.

"William McKenley's awake," Leah said to a questioning-looking Dean and Sam.

"Wait, that guy that was almost killed back before we met up with you?" Dean asked, but Sam spoke up after him.

"He is?" they both sounded genuinely shocked.

"Yep," Leah replied, "we're going to South Carolina, boys."

"Wait, he wants you there?" Dean asked, his shock beginning to fade slightly.

"Yeah," Leah said, and she frowned at Dean's ruffled look.

"Look Dean," she said, "it's the least I can do. And... He deserves an explanation. Besides, it's not even out of the way. We don't even have a plan."

"Alright," Sam said, "I think we should go." Without asking Dean further, Sam grabbed his brother and pulled his out of the motel to get back to the Impala. Leah turned to Castiel when the Winchesters were gone.

"Hey, Cas…" she said quietly. Castiel looked at her expectantly.

"Do you think you could come with us? One more time? I know… I know that William would want to meet you and everything," Leah asked, "he... He needs to know that there's good in the world, y'know?" Castiel looked at her blankly for a moment, and then a look of understanding crossed his face.

"If that is what you wish Leah," he said. Leah looked at him gratefully before heading out of the motel toward the awaiting Impala.

The three hunters and the angel climbed out of the Impala in front of the house that they had stopped at. It was a nice house, and so _human_ looking. It was peculiar, coming to a house that they knew they weren't going to be hunting in. A soft breeze blew over the cold ground and Leah looked around. It had been weeks since she had been in Clover, but it kept like an eternity. An eternity since she killed all those demons in the diner, leaving only William McKenley alive. She suppressed a shudder at the normality and the oblivion of the town. Just as Leah was shoving away her thoughts, the screen door to the house in front of them swung open with a loud creak and a bang as it slammed shut again. There stood a young man— he was tall, thin, and lanky with dirty-blonde hair and bright green eyes. He had high cheek bones and clean-cut features— the perfect guy for a white picket-fence life. He smiled gently when he saw Leah. Forgetting her previous annoyances with the young man, Leah met him and embraced him like they were old friends.

"I'm glad you came," Jonathan said softly when they pulled apart.

"I know… I needed to," Leah replied. Jonathan gave her another smile, until his eyes flickered back to the guys behind Leah.

"Oh," Leah said, noticing his gaze which became hard, "I should've probably told you, I brought my friends. They're… in the same line of business." Jonathan stiffened slightly as Sam walked up.

"Sam Winchester," Sam said, extending a hand, "and this is my brother, Dean." Dean watched Jonathan wordlessly as his brother and Jonathan shook hands. Dean made no move to do likewise.

"Jonathan Haughtler," Jonathan said to the both of the Winchesters.

"This is Castiel," Leah said gesturing over to Castiel who stood as silent (and stiff) as a stick.

"Weird name," Jonathan muttered.

"He's an angel," Leah said quietly.

"Huh, move on quickly, eh?" Jonathan said sourly, eying Castiel with great dislike.

"No, Jon, he's and _angel_. Literally. No joke," Leah snapped. Jonathan's eyes widened in surprised. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Castiel looked at him superiorly.

"Jonathan," Leah interrupted, "where is he?" Jonathan shook himself out of his stupor an tore his gaze away from the trench-coated angel.

"He's inside, waiting," he said. Leah nodded.

"Can they…?" she added, motioning to the others. Jonathan looked at them a moment before nodding almost reluctantly. Quietly they all headed into the house awaiting them.

Inside, things were just _normal_. Everything was in neat, precise order, until they reached a back room. It was a large room, with lots of bright windows, but the only thing setting the room out of place was a long hospital-like bed that sat in the center of the back wall of the room. A young man, about the age of Jonathan was sitting up in the bed. He looked up when the five people entered the room. He had pitch black hair, and bright brown eyes. Purple rings were set under his eyes, obviously showing his exhaustion. He looked exactly like Leah remembered, except for the eyes.

"L-leah?" William McKenley asked, "Vaughn?" Leah produced a weak smile. She walked over to him, leaving her companions.

"Good to see you awake William," she said quietly. William looked at her as if awed.

"You actually came," he said softly.

"How could I not?" Leah responded gently.

"How are you?" she added quickly. William looked down at himself in the hospital-like bed. He looked back up at Leah, half-smiling.

"Could be worse," he said with a small laugh. Leah forced a laugh. William gazed up at her again.

"It's so nice to finally meet you… for real. In my self."

Leah shifted uncomfortably, remembering how he was with the demon.

"It's— you too William," Leah replied.

"And thank you," William added. Leah looked at him curiously.

"Why?" she asked, frowning slightly.

"For saving me," he replied. Leah reached up and rubbed the back of her neck uncertainly.

"You've been in a fricken coma," she said, "I wouldn't exactly call that saving…" William shook his head in incongruity.

"If it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't be here. Or I'd be dead. That demon would probably still be in me."

"I should've stayed with you," Leah said back, "I should've made sure you were gonna be okay."

"Well you had things you had to do," William said stubbornly, "more people to save." Slowly, William began to pull himself up out of the bed. As he got up, he pulled out a long wooden object— a walking stick. Leah stomach ad heart began to knot up when she saw it, and when William walked around his bed. His whole left side was paralyzed from the neck down. She could tell by the way he swung his body with all the strength in his right side, and his right arm hung limply. Leah's throat tightened when he made his way over around the bed, and Jonathan stood by his side cautiously.

"Oh William, I'm so sorry," Leah choked out, her voice cracking horribly. She was surprised when she felt warmth seep into her eyes. She never cried. Never. And especially not in front of Dean, Sam, and Castiel, whom she had forgotten was even there. William looked at Leah, shocked at her reaction.

"I'm so sorry," Leah repeated, and she walked over to him and embraced him. He seemed een more startled by that.

"You didn't do anything wrong," he said, gently patting her pat before they pulled apart.

"I should've stopped him soon… I should've tried killing him after he got out of you. No, I shouldn't have left you to deal with this," Leah rambled through the lonely tears that were streaming down her face.

"I should've hurt him before I killed him—" Leah added.

"Wait— you killed him?" William asked, startled again. Leah nodded.

"But I should've _hurt_ him," Leah said darkly, sniffling very quietly.

"Then that would make you no better than him," William said, placing a comforting hand on Leah's shoulder.

"He's gone now. Just focus on the evil that's still left," he added. Leah stopped, remembering Castiel at William's words. Leah reached up, feeling very foolish and very young, and wiped her tear-streaked face.

"I forgot," she said, regaining her normal tone, and she turned, "I want you to meet my friends who I brought. They're hunters too. I thought you'd like to meet them." William looked at the Winchesters and Castiel, a look of curiosity and even awe crossing his young face. He wasn't cold toward them like Jonathan was.

"This is Dean and Sam Winchester," Leah introduced. Sam came up, shaking his hand. Dean, surprisingly, followed suit.

"And this is Castiel," Leah said, gesturing toward the angel. Castiel walked further into the room, blanketing the room in a sort of eerie silence. He nodded wordlessly at William.

"William," Leah said gently, looking at him, "he's an angel." William turned his eyes back to Castiel, and a sort of incredulous curiosity crossed his face again.

"An ang—?" he stammered, not finishing his word. Castiel nodded. William now looked dismayed.

"That's— how?" he said quietly, lost for words.

"I brought him because I knew you'd want to— you'd _need_— to meet him," Leah explained.

"William," she added, there _is_ good in the world, and I would do anything to take back what happened to you."

"Which is why we're going to stop the end of the world," Dean added in suddenly.

"End of the world?" William questioned, looked confused and setting his gaze on Dean.

"Yeah, we forgot to mention that," Sam responded, "uh, the Apocalypse." William stared at him wordlessly. Even Jonathan raised his eyebrows incredulously.

"Well, good luck on that one," William muttered finally.

"We will stop it," Castiel spoke suddenly, with somewhat of a tone of commanding authority. William looked up at him.

"I know you will," he said, "You've got the angels."

"I wouldn't bet my life on them," Dean said darkly, "except you Cas." William looked at Dean in questioning surprise.

"Long story," Dean said shortly. It got quiet a moment, signaling the end of that conversation.

"Well you guys should probably go save the world or something," William finally said. Leah nodded, looking down for a moment.

"William," she said, looking up again, "if there's _anything_ you need, just let me know. We're always willing to help. And kill things." William looked at Leah, his eye full of appreciation.

"I will Leah," he said, "and thank you. For everything. And for coming." Leah nodded to him, then turned away.

"I'll let you guys out," Jonathan stated, no longer cold. Leah nodded at him, and allowed him to lead them out of the room. But just as Leah, the last one to exit, was about to leave, William stopped her.

"Leah," he said softly, and Leah turned to look at him.

"Even if the angel's aren't with us," he said, "the world will always have you as the good." Leah looked at him, fearing her eyes would tear up again.

"Thank you," she said quietly. And she gave him one last look of farewell before walking out of the room. William sighed to himself and the empty room.

Outside, Leah blinked in the bright sunshine; morning sunshine. Jonathan watched her. Dean and Sam, followed by Castiel, stepped out into the bright sun as well.

"Well," Leah said, turning to Jonathan and the others, "we'd better head off. Lots to do, lots to hunt." Jonathan nodded in understanding.

"Hey," he said suddenly, as if a thought suddenly struck him, "You want your bike? I've got it here, in the garage behind the house." He gestured around the side of the house.

"I drove it over when I heard about William," headed.

"Yeah, sure," Leah said with a nod, and she felt her heart lift slightly at the thought of her Harley. Jonathan nodded back, and then left them to go retrieve the bike. Dean watched him like a hawk.

"He's definitely not your type," he muttered when Jonathan had left earshot. Leah raised an eyebrow.

"And you would know?" she asked smartly. Before Dean could reply though, Jonathan had come back with amazing speed. Leah took her bike from him, smiling genuinely. Then she looked up at him.

"You take care of yourself, Jon," she said softly.

"You too Leah," Jonathan replied. Leah rolled her bike away toward the Impala.

"Hey," Jonathan called abruptly again, "about that dinner—"

"Bye Jonathan!" Leah called, "and don't call me any more!"

"Awe, c'mon," Jonathan said, sounding incredibly disappointed. Leah turned.

"Unless you want Dean answering again," she said, a grin spreading over her face. Jonathan looked over at Dean, who gave him a hard glare.

"That was—you—?" Jonathan stammered, staring at Dean. Leah only laughed, knowing he was referring to the time when Dean answered the call from Jonathan some time ago.

At last they gave Jonathan one last farewell, and then the foursome turned back to the Impala. Before they got in however, Dean looked at Leah, then at her bike.

"Wait, what're you gonna do with that?" he asked. Leah looked at him, then at the Impala. Dean got the connection.

"Oh you are _not_ hitching that thing to my _car_!" he cried, shocked and furious. Leah only grinned.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Epilogue**

The wind blew coolly through the open Impala as it sped down the asphalt road. Finally it was warm enough to have the windows rolled down on the Impala— April was proving its worth. Leah sat in the back as always, trying not to stare at the lonely empty seat beside her. Again she reflected on the departure of Castiel again. It was right after they had left Jonathan's. They had stopped at a gas station and Castiel climbed out wordlessly. The others climbed out as well.

"You leavin' again?" Dean asked roughly.

"Yes," Castiel responded, "I must seek counsel with Ezekiel. We have…much to discuss." He cast a side-ways glance at Leah, who didn't even bother to ask what in the world the two angels would have to talk about her for. She knew Ezekiel would want to question Castiel about Leah. Leah knew that Ezekiel, who was now very curious about her probably because of him cursing her and all, and because of her newfound powers, he most likely wanted to find out everything he could about her that he possibly could. He did, to Leah, seem genuinely sorry about what he had to do to her, but that didn't keep Leah from feeling very wary and irked by the angel's presence. Plus, he most likely wanted to know more about Leah's new angelic powers due to Castiel. Speaking of that, Leah also learned quickly enough that she was able to control her power through her emotions— especially anger. On top of that, the two angels wanted to talk about Matthias. Ezekiel was now the only angel who would help them, and they were pretty grateful. And it made it all the better that Matthias and Ezekiel were well-know of each other. Quite well-know.

Leah looked at Castiel, trying not to show that she was saddened, deeply, at his departure. He had been with them through the whole ordeal with Leah and her demonic wound, and it was awful to think that he would leave them now.

"Well," Leah had said, slinging her bag over her should as Dean turned to stalk toward the gas station, muttering something that sounded like "traitor," or "leave this all to us."

"You visit us then, you hear?" Leah finished. Castiel tilted his head to the side slightly, presenting his confusion.

"Don't wait five months to show up," Leah added in an explanatory tone.

"Let us know about anything on Matthias," Sam jumped in. Castiel looked at the both of them. He nodded.

"I will keep in touch," he said, and he looked over at Leah once more.

"I will try and find you through you—barrier," he added. Leah laughed with a hint of bitterness.

"Yeah, good luck on that one," she said, "You don't know how hard it is to control." For a moment it got awkwardly silent.

"Well, see ya around then," Leah finally said, her tone a whole lot more softer. Castiel hesitated for a moment.

"Farewell," he said back. Leah nodded at him. Then, in the blink of an eye and the soft beautiful sound of fluttering wings, the angel was gone. Leah sighed inwardly, staring at the spot where Castiel, the trench-coated angel, stood seconds before.

Leah shook herself out of her reminiscing as Dean, yet again, pulled into another gas station. It had been many hours since Castiel had left them. Dean was still murmuring under his breath as he put the car gear to park, glancing in the rearview mirror to check out the back of the Impala.

"Check your stupid bike to make sure it's still atachched," Dean ordered Leah bitterly as he climbed out of the car. Leah cllibmed out too, feeling a grin beginning to creep up on her face. She was too ticked to be frustrated at Dean's constant raving attitude toward her. Because, she _did_ hitch her motorbike to the back of the Impala— amazingly. Dean was so ticked off by this that he hadn't stopped mmuttering about it since they started their trip toward Bobby's again (Leah finaly agreed to drop her bike off at Bobby's before they headed off for a real job). Leah walked around to the back of the Impala, making sure her precious Harley was safe and secure on the small trailer that was attached to the even more precious bumper of the Impala. Dena had made _extra_ sure that the trailer was attached strongly to the bumper of his car so that it wouldn't roll off and pull off his precious Impala's bumper. Leah grinned again after she checked the Impala; she was incredibly elated for some reason, even though Castiel's presence, or the lack thereof, was still weighing in the back of her mind. And, even though there was a vengeful, maniac demon out to kill her, she was still happy. Leah had Dean and Sam Winchester, and Castiel. Hell, she even had Ezekiel. And she had her own little bit of special powers to deal out. Things were good. Things were going to be okay. Finally.

Unexpectedly, Leah's phone began buzzing wildly in her pocket. Thankful that there wasn't another soul to answer it for her, Leah walked around the side of the Impala, pulling out the cell phone. The caller ID read "Private Number." Not even worrying the slightest bit, Leah pushed talk.

"Hello?" she said professionally.

"Hello Leah."

Leah's smile, which had been on her face for the past five minutes, began to fade rapidly.

"Who is this?" Leah asked, feeling strangely empty.

"That's not important," the voice answered.

"What do you want?" Leah demanded, trying not to let her voice quaver. A wave of déja vu washed over her as she listened.

"You're very special, Leah Vaughn," the stranger said quietly, gently. Leah gripped the phone tighter.

"What'd you mean?" she asked quietly. The voice laughed softly. It wasn't a terrible, heart-clutching, shiver-inducing mirthless laugh. It was strangely soothing. But Leah didn't feel soothed.

"That demon was right, Leah," the voice continued, "you don't even know who you are."

"Well, I wouldn't mind someone explaining for a change," Leah replied sharply, trying to regain her tough attitude.

"You see, you happen to be a very important person Miss Vaughn," the voice said calmly.

"No, and it's not because of Ezekiel or Castiel," the voice added, and at the two angel's names, Leah fell cold, "no. It's because you're apart of the Apocalypse, Leah." Leah felt a trickle of fear creep through her. The Apocalypse? She really was?

"H-how? H-how do you know?" Leah questioned, her voice now begging to shake. The voice chuckled.

"I don't know if you want to know."

"Tell me," Leah demanded, gripping the phone tighter, until her knuckles began to turn ghostly white.

The voice turned dark and serious, and he said something that would forever ring in Leah's mind from that point on:

"You're a vessel, Leah Vaughn," he said, no more humor clouding his answer, "you're a very special vessel. The vessel of _all_ vessels."

_**To be Continued…**_

**In Paranormal 3: Tribulations**


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